The University of Birmingham
Subject: Financial Engineering
An 11 Finalists of UK Alumni Awards for Social Impact
Sarunnaphat Wattanasiritham from Thailand completed an MSc in Financial Engineering at the University of Birmingham in 2015. She was selected as a finalist for the Social Impact category at the Thailand Study UK Alumni Awards 2020 for her voluntary work as vice president of the Accessibility is Freedom group, working to raise awareness of the need for disabled parking spaces in Thailand. The Social Impact Award recognises UK alumni whose work has positively changed the community or society.
When Sarunnaphat entered the University of Birmingham she was in a wheelchair, following a car accident in 2011. During her time in the UK, she was pleased to find fully equipped facilities and these enhanced her quality of life. She also made full use of the University of Birmingham’s sports centre, enabling her to enjoy swimming and yoga. She learnt about the UK’s disability policies and levels of public awareness surrounding disability, encouraging her to consider how disabled facilities might be better developed in Thailand.