From runaway street urchin eating out of a trash can to Thai national skateboard champion, "Oat" Athiwat is a graduate of life's school of hard knocks.
But the 24-year-old, abandoned by his parents at a young age and beaten by relatives, is daring to dream about the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after a promising fourth place finish at the Asian Games in Jakarta.
Oat never knew his mother and his father left him to pursue a monk's life in a monastery.
At the tender age of eight, he shuffled around between different relatives living in Suphanburi, a city a couple of hours from Bangkok.
Often the victim of violence by those looking after him, he would sleep rough on the street, permanently feeling hungry and with nowhere to turn.
"I used to eat anything I could find, even gum on the floor or the leftovers I found in the trash bin," Oat told AFP, his voice faltering as he wipes a tear from his cheek.
"I didn't have any friends."
"It's a child's dream to run away with the circus."
- Waif skater -
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"He didn't watch TV or play games like other kids," he said. "He was always the first one there and the last one to leave."
- 'It's a real sport' -
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