One day, I was driving into town along Bangna-Trad Road at around 160 kmph when I suddenly found myself surrounded by three street racers in BMWs. They couldn't see who was driving as the back window of my car, a Subaru WRX, is covered with a really dark automotive film, One pulled alongside on my left, another to my right while the other kept on my tail. It was like a scene in the 'Fast and the Furious'. They stayed like that for a while, then the car on my right accelerated and the others followed suit," says Parleerat Panboonhom, a senior marketing manager with NTL Marine.

"That kind of thing happens to me quite often as I tend to drive fast like a man. It's a habit from my university days when I needed to cover the 16 kilometres to school quickly to make my classes on time!"

Her Subaru WRX came with a 218 horsepower engine has been tuned up and today pumps out 230 bhp.

Parleerat is a confessed speed addict but you won't catch her road racing. She saves that for the track, where she's been going regularly since 2005.

"I love sports. I boxed for a year at Fairtex but had to stop after hurting my spine in a fall. I switched to car racing after my brother introduced me to it," she says.

Parleerat trained at the now defunct Singha Racing School.

Singha also sponsored her participation in the Group C category of the Toyota Vios One Make Race for three years and she has won the race three times.

"Many people are surprised to see a woman take part in car races, but being a racer has nothing to do with gender. It's about attention and patience. Many women want to become racers but lose interest after discovering what it entails.

"I'm lucky that I played sports for a long time, so I don't tire easily. It's a discipline that requires a lot of stamina."

By Thanadol Rila

t_rila@dailyxpress.net

DAILYXPRESS