Meet Ranchida

We were lucky to catch up with Ranchida recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Ranchida, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?

My purpose and passion started from being a high school girl from the northeastern part of Thailand (Khon Kaen) with a dream of becoming a diplomat. I tried my best to find my way into that path, with countless failures and strangers telling me it was impossible. But along the way, I found that this idea of impossibility is what stops young people from pursuing their goals, and it stems from them not having access to the resources needed to support them in their path. Opportunities are concentrated in the capital city and very rarely reach those in other provinces. Finally acknowledging this, I use it as a fuel to keep on advocating for decentralisation of opportunities for youths.
Starting to work in advocacy and talking to passionate young people who have ideas for change, I hear young students from different regions of Thailand echoing my point and connecting with what I advocate for. They would tell me that changemaking agendas and opportunities for youths outside of school are still unheard of in their hometowns, and that is what keeps me going. That is why I love to go out to network, meet people, and listen to them. It gives me motivation and reignites my purpose.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I co-founded YoungRise Thailand – a youth-led network supported by UNICEF Thailand – with my peers to equip young people in Thailand with skills in advocacy. The initiative was founded after our co-founders were trained with the UNICEF Youth Advocacy Guide (YAG) which is now being adjusted to fit the local context and used as the main curriculum for our cascade training. YoungRise Thailand’s mission is to promote inclusive opportunities and serve as a bridge for youth advocates in order to advance equality, create space spaces, and increase youth participation in policy development.
Currently, our network has over 300 trained youth advocates from various regions and in 2024, we expanded our outreach by creating a YoungRise North Hub, mentoring and supporting three projects in the Northern communities of Thailand, and we plan to expand our horizons more and more every year.
YoungRise Thailand excites us like nothing else. From our Project Director, Teerapat Kraisatid (Nite), to all our talented volunteer staff, we are fueled by the thought that more and more young people around the country are being connected to capacity-building opportunities through our network. Last November, we held a Networking Event in Phitsanulok Province to showcase the northern projects to potential partners, specifically local administrative organisations (LAOs). One of our youth leaders joined us with a vision to host a Hackathon for students in the region (in which she succeeded with our grant), because she said that ‘opportunities and activities like this never reached youths in this region (lower northern).’ She mentioned that she was grateful for YoungRise because it sparked a novel breakthrough, where youths are empowered to lead and connect with each other through innovations to make a change in their communities.
But we are most grateful for and inspired by her and all the youth leaders in our network, because without their passion, very few developments can be made under meaningful participation of young people.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Being in advocacy, especially with YoungRise Thailand, learning how to give and share is the most crucial part in my journey. I acknowledge that if you are working in the field of youth empowerment (or really, in life in general), jealousy and competition is never the way to go, because in the end, your end goal is to ensure that young people, no matter who or where they are, are adequately represented and receive equal opportunities. So, always have empathy and the heart that loves to give – give out opportunities, share knowledge, and seek the best for people.
Second is to learn how to be a good facilitator and mediator. In a setting where different ideas bounce against each other, learn how to be the person who helps summarise these views and find common ground. This comes from being a good listener and practising conceptualisation. This role is necessary, because amidst clashes, you will be the one moving the progress forward.
Last is Resilience. Don’t be scared that you will fail, because even if you do, the process of trying and recovering from failure already gives you enough learnings that you would never have gotten if you didn’t try. So don’t shy away from opportunities simply because you fear you won’t succeed! Embrace the failures as just another milestone for you to learn resilience, and move on to greater things.
And I would just sneak in another one – storytelling. To scale up your impacts, people need to hear and feel your stories. Practice structuring your speeches and writings so that you can help people remember you and what you do better, and my one piece of advice is to speak with passion. This will not only help in your advocacy, but in your studies, career, and in life as well.

What’s been one of your main areas of growth this year?

One thing that I have always learned but never mastered was the art of being assertive. In the past year, I tried to do more of it and I found that assertiveness takes you to journeys you would never reach otherwise.
The ‘assertiveness’ I mean is to find who and what you are interested in – those who can shed a brighter light into your insights, your advocacy, and your career – and be proactive in reaching out to them. This had not been a part of my culture nor something I felt comfortable doing, but once I could do it, I opened so many doors.
When I was in New York City for the UNGA 79 as a Thai Youth Delegate, I felt like this city was perfect to reach out and meet people in my field of International Relations. My peers had all been doing it – being assertive and cold messaging interesting people to schedule discussions that could help enhance our roles as Youth Delegates. I was inspired by that, and in the last few days, I decided to email my trainers at UNICEF and was able to showcase the progress of YoungRise Thailand from when I first started a year ago until now. I also started to cold email a professor at my dream university because I was interested in her course – and like a dream, I was able to meet her in person and explore my passion in this field a little deeper.
All this is to say that being assertive and finding your networks can be a source of inspiration that helps you immensely in life. If you ever feel stuck, alone, or out of options – just ask around. There are wonderful people and things waiting for you to reach out to.

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