A photo of a uniformed student in Lop Buri riding a miniature horse taken by Facebook user "Wonder Green" quickly caught the attention of netizens throughout the country.
Wonder Green, whose real name is Paweenut Wisittasak, said she wasn't sure if he rode the horse to school each day. Although he was clearly a skilled rider, she said she was concerned about his safety because there was so much traffic around.
Ms Paweenut followed up on the story and found out that the boy is a Matayom 1 student at Lopburi Military Kindergarten. His nickname is Jif and he comes from a poor family. He formerly sold flower garlands to earn money.
Jif was given a job looking after horses on a local farm where his mother works. Seeing that he is a hard-working boy, Jif was given full control over the minature horse, named Fluke, which he rides to and from school each day. At school, he leaves the horse in a grass field and he eats lunch with Fluke. His big ambition is to one day own horses himself, perhaps even Fluke, which would cost about 35,000 baht.
It didn't take long for the Thai-language media to discover the story and now Paweenut, Jif and Fluke are becoming local celebrities. The family is experiencing hard times, however, and Jif's mother says she may have to move elsewhere since she has no money to pay the electricity bills at her current home. Ms Paweenut is seeking ways to help the family and the recent publicity is certain to help.