Thai-Swedish Emma Johansson seems like a girl who can do everything she wants. She loves to go to school. What annoys her most is if something interrupts her studies such as the big red-shirt riots last year. She is most happy when active. She plays soccer in her spare time and this summer holiday she will go to Oxford University on a two weeks study program. And she is only 15 years old.
Emma chose to live with her Swedish father when her parents separated six years ago. Most of the time, Emma is happy with that decision.
“I miss my mother when I see my friends going shopping or doing something with their mothers,” she tells. But it is only for a short time, because her Dad is both of a Mum and a Dad to her – as well as her best friend.
“I can talk to my Dad about everything, from school issues to girls stuff,” she says.
Emma Johansson still has this childish softness and innocence over her face, lifted by her light skin and covered by a caramel hair tone. It is clear that she is a look kreung.
People are interesting
In her 15 year life Emma Johansson has lived several places. She was born in Sweden but moved with her mother and father to Thailand when she was three years old. Before settling in Bangkok, they had lived in Pattaya and Hua Hin the latest place, where her father now has his company. The company that Emma one day will in heritage.
“It is not certain that it is what I want. I do not like the idea of something handed without having done anything for it. I better like the idea that you build your own, like my Dad did with his company,” she says.
Beside business and economics, what also rocks Emma world is psychology, and in the future she would like to do further studies in psychology to use it in business.
“It is interesting to see how people reacts to one and another,” she says. While sitting in the chair her hands moves energetic while she tell, some times she places them between her knees and you recognizes the teenager in the very mature girl.
Emma can easily imagine her self take over the company. She was often with her Dad at work since when she was a little girl. But she would not sit in the waiting room for him so she always followed him around or was given a task. Then she dreamt that someday she would have her own company. With all these plans she seems to be way ahead of her time making her impatient. “I can’t wait to grow up!” She sights.
Independent
Emma is already very independent for a girl in her age. She takes care of her self when her Dad is at his business in Hua Hin for several days. She and her Dad prefers it that way, without a nanny or a maid. Last year she attended a study program on the Internet. A program that required her independence, and learned her a lot more discipline than the teenager already had.
“I had to control/take care of my own learning, as when to get homework done. I had to be very focused, and that was tough. But I learned to be discipline,” she tells enthusiastic.
Much of her maturity is due to her upbringing as a only child where she had to spend a lot of her time with adults, her father, his working colleagues or his friends, she would always follow him more rather than her mother.
“To be in company with adults taught me to be forward and not afraid to speak out,” Emma says.
Swedish inside
Emma talks fast and fluently English. She also speaks fluently Swedish but her Thai is not as perfect. She speaks mostly Swedish or English with her Dad and English at school, so the Thai language is not used much. But she also feels herself as being more Swedish than Thai.
“I am Thai outside but Swedish inside,” she says.
Today she still keeps in contact with friends in Sweden and once a year she spends about a month there, often for Christmas. It is likely that she would move to live in Sweden in her future.
Even though Emma is older for her age and well considered her dreams are still like many teenagers, that is to have a house, a husband and family, “like a typical American family,” as she calls it. But before that she would like to explore the world.
