Thai founder of stray animal shelter featured on Hershey’s chocolate bar wrapper

A Thai woman who founded a shelter for stray animals and invested over 100 million baht in its care is featured on a Hershey’s chocolate bar wrapper to commemorate International Women’s Day on March 8.

Hershey’s, one of the world’s biggest chocolate manufacturers, releases new chocolate bar wrappers to honour inspirational women on International Women’s Day.

In recent years, the brand has emphasized the word “she” in its logo and started the campaign “Celebrate SHE” to acknowledge women’s contributions to society.

On the chocolate wrappers, Hershey’s has featured a number of influential women from around the world, including 74-year-old Thai woman Kawinporn Winichthaoprathom, the founder of the animal shelter Baan Nang Fah.

According to Thai media reports, she has cared for over 2,500 stray dogs and cats at her shelter in the Muak Lek district in the central province of Saraburi, spending over 100 million baht and even selling some assets to provide for them.

In a previous interview with PPTV channel, she stated that she has been caring for stray animals since 2003, providing them with food, vaccinations, sterilization, and returning them to their original location. But, when Kawinporn went back to see the animals, she found that some of them disappeared and some of them had been killed by locals.

So, she started bringing them home and eventually bought land to establish a proper shelter. Kawinporn revealed that she had a concrete truck business and used some of the profits to care for stray animals. As the number of animals continued to grow, she had to sell 25 concrete trucks, lands, and other assets to cover the expenses.

Kawinporn said…

“I don’t regret what I did. Everybody dies, me too. I can’t take anything with me when I leave. I can’t bring any money or gold necklaces. I never thought that taking care of these stray animals was a mistake. I will continue doing this and invite those who have the same will and want to help to join me when it’s time.”

Animal lovers can follow Kawinporn and support her stray animals via the official Facebook page of Baan Nang Fah here.

According to the Facebook page Consumer (ผู้บริโภค), Hershey’s International Women’s Day collection features two other influential women, including Yong Yoek Ling who is the co-founder of a training academy in Singapore, and Nor Fadilah Mohamed Nizar who is the social enterprise Johor Intellectual Women Empowerment Association.