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Name: Game

Role/Connection: Former Kid at BTN, Now Director of BTN

Country: Thailand

From Lost Boy to Leader: Game’s Journey with Hands Across the Water

Some stories don’t start with fairy tales or happy beginnings. Some start with loss. With uncertainty. With a child standing at a crossroads, not knowing what comes next.
Game’s story began like that.

He was just a boy when life as he knew it began to unravel. Both parents are gone too soon. No safety net. No roadmap. Passed from one relative to another, never quite belonging, never truly home. And at only twelve years old, Game had already felt the full weight of what it meant to be alone in the world.

But sometimes, life gives us a turning point.

For Game, that turning point was the day he walked through the gates of Baan Tharn Namchai (BTN)—one of the homes supported by Hands Across the Water. He arrived carrying not much more than a quiet resilience and the invisible scars of a life that had demanded too much, too soon.

But within those gates, everything began to shift.
There, he met Khun Rotjana, the founder of BTN. A woman with a presence that made you feel safe without saying a word. She became more than a caregiver. She became the steady heart of a home that had already transformed countless lives.

And for Game, she became the mother figure he never had.

Under her wing, he began to heal. He wasn’t just given shelter—he was seen. He was given the space to be a child again, and the support to begin building a future of his own choosing.

And what a future it would become.

Even as a young teen, Game was different. Not loud, not boastful. But consistent. Quietly determined. He helped with chores without being asked. He tutored the younger children. He led not with words, but with actions. And in a home filled with children looking for stability, Game became a steady presence, someone the others looked up to.

By the time he finished high school, it was clear Game wasn’t done growing. With the support of Hands Across the Water and the extended family that stood behind him, he enrolled at university to study Law. He became one of the first young people in our homes to pursue a degree.
It was a milestone not just for Game, but for all of us.

Because when one child rises, it lifts the spirit of everyone who believed in them.

Game worked hard through university, never losing sight of where he came from. Even as he studied and earned his degree, he returned to BTN during school breaks—not because he had to, but because he wanted to. He hadn’t just been raised there. He belonged to it. And in many ways, BTN belonged to him too.
After graduating, Game joined the Hands team in Thailand as General Manager. He travelled across the country, helping to strengthen programs, visiting our homes, supporting teams, and always advocating for children whose lives mirrored his own. It was a full-circle moment—once the one in need, now the one reaching back to lift others.

But life had another turning point in store.

When Khun Rotjana became unwell, there was never any doubt what Game would do. He returned to BTN—not out of duty, but out of deep love. He stepped into her role, guiding the very home that once gave him his life back.

It was a moment of profound transition. From the boy she once protected, to the man now protecting others.

While leading BTN, Game didn’t stop learning. He returned to university, this time for his MBA, juggling full-time responsibilities at the home with late-night classes and study sessions. He graduated top of his class. And recently, he was awarded a full scholarship to study for his PhD.

That’s Game.

A boy who lost everything. A man who gave it all back—and more.

Today, he’s not just a director, or a scholar, or a leader.

He is the embodiment of Hands Across the Water’s mission. He is the living proof of what happens when you give a child not just food, not just shelter, but belonging. Support. Unshakable belief.

At Hands, we often talk about creating lives of choice, not chance. Game didn’t choose the loss that shaped his childhood. But thanks to the community that surrounds Hands—supporters, donors, riders, volunteers—he was able to choose what came next.

He chose growth. He chose leadership. He chose to give back.

And today, hundreds of children at BTN and beyond look up to him—not because of what he’s accomplished, but because of how he shows up. With compassion. With humility. With heart.

When we think about impact, it’s easy to focus on numbers – how many children supported, how many meals were delivered, how many beds filled. But the real story of impact lives in people like Game.

In their quiet victories, in the doors they open for others, in the way they transform a second chance into a life of purpose.

Game’s journey isn’t just his. It belongs to all of us who believed in him along the way. To everyone who donated, fundraised, rode, or spread the word. You didn’t just change Game’s life—you helped shape every life he’s now touching.

At Hands Across the Water, we don’t offer quick fixes. We walk beside children for the long haul. We don’t just rescue, we raise. We don’t just support, we stand together.

And when the children in our homes grow into adults who lead, mentor, and protect others, we know we’ve done more than respond to need.

We’ve created the conditions for love, leadership, and legacy to grow.

Game is not just a success story.

He’s a reminder that when we believe in people, they often become the very light we need in the world.
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