Professional gamer: JinNy in Bangkok
Sarindhorn Wanothayarnchai lives in Bangkok and is a gamer. She calls herself JinNy and takes part in competitions. Her goal: to become world champion. A new episode in our series on women in Asia about her life and how she came to her profession.
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00:00My dad would play games with me when I was very small and I really enjoyed it.
00:13I liked how games made me think carefully, they required strategy.
00:20When I play a game I set goals, like I have to overcome this or that.
00:24It made me focus on what I wanted to do, I had to try hard to achieve those goals.
00:30I'm Sarin Thorndwanortayanchai or people know me as Ginny.
00:34I currently work at Thai eSports as the FPS director.
00:37I'm also an eSports athlete with the Full Sense team.
00:40I currently live in Bangkok.
00:47I was around 18 years old then when I started competing seriously and I started earning
00:52an income from the prize money.
00:54Since then it was my goal to stop asking my family for money and supported myself by competing.
01:04When I started competing I was very, very nervous because when you compete online from
01:09home no one is sitting there watching you.
01:13But when I started competing back then it would be at malls or in offline spaces.
01:19There would be audiences, I put a lot more pressure on myself to do well.
01:32So a gaming bootcamp, I would describe it as a home for gamers.
01:38It's like a home that we work and do everything in.
01:47Usually we live in the bootcamp for around one month, where we keep to ourselves to prepare
01:51for the competition.
02:00And spend time together to build closer friendships amongst the team and develop stronger communication
02:04between each other.
02:09Currently my team is under Full Sense eSports.
02:12We compete in the game Valorant and we're a women's team with five players and one coach.
02:23Ever since I started competing I've always played among the guys.
02:27Often times it would be a team with four guys and me being the only girl.
02:31But I only started competing solely with girls last year.
02:40I had this negative image from before that if I wanted to compete seriously I shouldn't
02:46do it with girls.
02:51But actually the girls teams have improved a lot and they're as serious about it as the
02:57boys.
02:58And in the women's team it's very inclusive where LGBT people play as well.
03:15I think a lot of people don't understand the difference between gaming as a hobby and gaming
03:21as an eSports player.
03:35It's not that different from being a regular athlete who plays sports to compete, not for
03:39exercise.
03:41There is a big difference, but some people still don't understand that difference and
03:47instead they think eSports athletes are just game addicts.
04:00So with my time spent largely in front of the computer, I like to drink coffee when
04:03I feel tired.
04:07I love coffee with all my heart.
04:09Other than that I take supplements and vitamins like for my eyes, to replenish my body as
04:14my meals can be inconsistent at times.
04:18And I also try to find time for exercise after training at the computer.
04:29Recently I went to compete in the game Valorant on the world stage in Berlin, which is the
04:34biggest event for the global women's eSports scene.
04:42Honestly I actually wanted to retire after my last competition.
04:47My goal was to compete on a global level, which is something I've done now, but then
04:53I felt that being a world champion would be possible.
04:58That's not something that feels out of my league, so I've decided to keep playing, so
05:03that one day I can win the world championship.