Orphan girl says no to Kim Kardashian's adoption offer

Kim Kardashian. Photo / Getty Images

A teenager from a children's home in a poverty-stricken region of Thailand made an astonishing decision to turn down an offer from reality TV star Kim Kardashian to adopt her into a life of wealth and glamour overseas.

The level-headed 13-year-old called Pink said she shook with excitement when she heard the multi-millionaire wanted to adopt her, but insisted she wanted to study in Thailand instead then help her impoverished homeland and the orphans she has grown up with.

The girl with a sunny smile stole Kim's heart when she visited the ramshackle children's home in Thailand's Phang Nga province, a region where more than 4,000 people perished in the 2004 tsunami.

Pink, an outstanding scholar whose mother sent her to the home because she was too poor to care for her and fund her education, immediately bonded with Kim and gave her a bracelet in a visit in April filmed for her hit show Keeping Up with The Kardashians.

But after being told the reality TV star wanted to adopt her, Pink said: "Everyone wants to have a different or a better life, I suppose. But when I thought about it I realised it wouldn't be good for me, because I would have to leave so much behind. I wasn't ready for that."

After the visit, Kim declared on camera: "When you meet someone that you really connect to like this, you can't help but think like how you could change their life. And I think that looking into adoption would be amazing.

"I literally cannot stop thinking about her. I told (husband) Kanye, I was like, honestly, this girl is so sweet and so cute, like, I would honestly adopt her."

She then appeared to abandon the idea after being chided by her mother for treating adoption like a shopping trip and then told by her resort manager that adopting children from Thailand is "very, very difficult".

But Mail Online found that Pink was taken aside and told by the home's supervisors about Kim's adoption wish in the show which went out in August and, although delighted at the offer, immediately said a polite but firm "no".

Pink, who shares a basic dormitory room with mattresses on the floor with five other girls at the Home and Life Foundation in Phang Nga, said: "When I found out she wanted to adopt me, I was shaking. I was so excited. It would be such a change of life for me."

Recalling her meeting with Kim - who was so smitten with the teenager she visited the home twice - Pink admitted she and the other children had no idea who Kim was when she first arrived.

"When she came here, it seemed as if I was the first one she looked at and smiled at. We had a connection straight away. I think she is really pretty and she has a very nice personality."

"I thought she was lovely and I really enjoyed meeting her - and I loved being on TV too," said Pink, whose real name is Laddawan Tong-Keaw.

Pink makes an exhausting 100-mile round journey by bus every day with two other girls to attend the province's top government school after the three of them passing a demanding entrance exam. She gets up at 5am and returns home at around 6 pm.

At evenings and weekends, she does chores and helps look after younger children in the home which was set up eight years ago to care for orphans and children from families devastated by the human and economic impact of the tsunami.

Pink plans to go to university in Thailand then work as a tour guide or a teacher. "I want to help my country," she said. "I want people to come and learn about Thailand and understand more about my country. That is why I am thinking of being a tour guide."

Pink's mother Rose, lives in a nearby village with Pink's younger brother and comes to the home every day to help cook and clean for her daughter and the other 24 children at home.

"I spoke to my mum about Kim and she said 'When you finish High School and you can look after yourself, I will give you permission to go and live with Kim if you want to go'," said Pink.

"But the other children here and like brothers and sisters to me and I couldn't leave them behind. They are my family and I couldn't just go away and leave them."

Asked if she would like see Kim again, Pink smiled shyly as she replied: "I would like to see her again one day if it's possible. But not just Kim - I'd like to meet her husband and her daughter as well. I'd like to meet the whole family."

When she visited the home, Kim appeared unaware that Pink was not an orphan and that her mother, Rose, 44, was present throughout the visit.

"I was very proud when I heard that this famous lady wanted to adopt Pink but at the same time I didn't want her to go away with the Kardashian family. She is only young and I would miss her very much," she told Mail Online.

The home's founder Bhudit Maneejak, 35, said he took Pink to one side and told her about Kim's wish to adopt her as soon as he heard about it from the programme makers.

"I thought 'Oh my God, this is difficult to manage because it is a good option for Pink to be adopted by a very rich family' - but I decided it depended on her decision," he said.

"So I asked her whether she wanted to go or not and she said 'No, my family is here and I want to stay here'."

Bhudit said he was proud of the mature way Pink handled what could have been a difficult situation. "She is happy here. She has a good life here. She has a good education here as well. She is clever. She gets good grades and she is going to the best school," he said.

"She is making a better life for herself in the future, and what is most important is that she is working for it herself.

"We try to teach the children here not to just look for a comfortable life. If they get something for free it might seem fantastic but they won't be proud if they haven't worked for it."

Home and Life Foundation supervisor Papangkorn Chanporn, 26, said he Googled the Kardashians after their visit and showed pictures and articles to the children afterwards although some images of Kim were too explicit to show the youngsters.

"The children had absolutely no idea who Kim Kardashian was," he said. "It was all the cameras that made the children feel important. There was such a big fuss."

The Kardashians had not been in contact with the home since the visit, he said, although the owner of the resort in nearby Phuket that arranged the visit was in regular contact as a supporter of the foundation. The family had said they would build a pool at the site but this has not materialised.

The home relies on donations from overseas and has running costs of around 40 pounds a day to feed, school and care for its 25 children aged four to 18.

"We raise these children as a family," said Papangkorn. "If someone comes and wants to adopt a child, whoever it is, they would say the same. They would say: 'I don't want to leave my family here'.

"They have everything they need here and anyone who wants to help the children should help the foundation."

He added: "Some people might say that celebrities only make these visits to places like this for their image, but I believe if they are willing to do some charity work it means there is some good in them."

Kim Kardashian did not respond to requests for comment from Mail Online. Her spokesperson Ina Treciokas said in an emailed response: "She (Kim) is working and unavailable."

• Details of the Home and Life Foundation in Phang Nga are available at homelifethailand.com

- Daily Mail