The story of Mei Mei: Teacher by day, professional Dota 2 player by night

This is part of “Esports Heroes“, a series that takes a closer look at the stories and origins of some of our favorite esports pros and teams.

Siriwan “Mei Mei” Tanwong describes herself as a passionate gamer who has been playing video games since she was a kid. While she’s a teacher by day, Mei Mei also plays professional Dota as a support for all-girl team, Frosty Fire.

Hailing from Thailand, Mei Mei formed a team with her long-time friends to join female-only competitions in their country.

“Gaming is part of my life and when I have really good friends that I can go through with this together, then I want to try this.”

Mei Mei describes the esports scene in her country as “not that huge,” but is slowly on the rise.

“Only some games are popular, like ROV (Arena of Valor) but not Dota 2. For esports, Thailand is slower than other countries in Southeast Asia, but we are developing now.”

When she first got into professional esports, Mei Mei faced some difficulty convincing her mother to let her pursue her dream.

“My mum is a single mum. She didn’t understand what I am doing at all because I’m a teacher and I already have a safe job, so why do I want to go and do something so challenging.”

“She is a little conservative, and she doesn’t really understand, and I hope that the older generations will try to accept esports.”

Mei Mei also hopes that her story will inspire more female gamers to pursue a professional esports career.

“I want to let you know that you don’t have to hesitate to join or start because I know really good female players both in and outside of Thailand. I want you to be confident and just start doing it. Because if I can do it, you can do it as well!”