Cambodian boy who sells street food in 16 languages: spectacular makeover after 7 years?

Thuch Salik now has a stable and much more mature life than when he was famous. In 2018, the life of Thuch Salik (born in 2004, Cambodia) officially turned to a page, when a tourist posted a video of him speaking 16 languages on social networks.

The image of the boy selling street goods and souvenirs for tourists visiting Ta Prohm temple (Siem Reap) confidently speaks many languages surprised netizens, calling Salik a "language prodigy".

In addition to some simple conversations, Salik is able to count numbers continuously in German, Italian, French, Spanish, Khmer, English, Tagalog, Malay, 3 local languages of China (Mandarin, Cantonese, Hainan), Russian, Thai, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese. Salik was sponsored to travel to China and audition to have the opportunity to participate in the singer training course.

In September 2019, Salik was sponsored by Hailiang Group (Zhejiang, China) and enrolled in Hailang Education Academy. Chen Junwei, the director of the academy, also suggested paying off the debt to the family so that his parents could rest assured that their children would study abroad. In addition, many donors support the parents of "language prodigies" in clothing stores to have a stable income. The whole family moved to Phnom Penh.

In January 2020, Salik returned to his hometown of Cambodia, studying online because of the Covid-19 epidemic. In July of the same year, he signed a contract with the Cambodian talent company FUN Entertainment, trained and invited to participate in TV programs to become a KOL and livestreamer.

Up to now, after 7 years of fame, Salik is a mature and mature 21-year-old man. The street vendor boy now has a stable life, often broadcasts live and cooperates in advertising with brands.

Salik also knows how to take care of his appearance, often appearing with a well-groomed and trendy appearance on social networks. His personal Face.book page attracts more than 21,000 followers.

Salik also showed off buying a car in October 2024. The Cambodian boy currently has a beautiful love affair with his girlfriend. The two often post emotional moments on social networks.

In the past, he grew up in a small tent on the outskirts of Angkor Wat (Cambodia), Thuch Salik could only go to school half a day because his family was too poor. The rest of the time, the boy roams the streets of Siem Reap city to sell street goods, make money from jewelry and souvenirs for tourists. The 14-year-old boy at that time always had a dream of studying abroad, despite the poverty and debt that beset his family.

Salik's mother, Mann Vanna, sells scarves and other clothes at a market kiosk. His father was a painter, often selling his own paintings to make a living. Salik's whole family at that time had to work hard to pay off the debt of 60,000 USD (about 1.4 billion VND).

I thought that the boy's life would forever be immersed in that miserable situation, but everything changed from a video on social networks. It wasn't worth talking about until the boy in the clip, Salik, thought he could speak 16 languages. Accordingly, Salik spoke in Chinese to the female tourist.

This girl was surprised and began to arouse his language abilities. The female tourist asked Salik in French, Cantonese, Japanese, and Thai,... and received fluent answers from him. Salik shared that he learned those languages in more than 3 years as a street vendor.

After the clip was posted on social networks, the "storm" of praise for Salik made many sponsors pay attention to the poor street vendor. Through research, people learned about Salik's difficult situation and began to donate money to help him.

Regarding studying in China, Salik's mother was reluctant, because she was suspicious when her child was too young, worried that his health would be difficult to adapt to when abroad. His parents also thought Hailiang's offer was "too good to come true". Therefore, Chen's team had to return to China. But the next time, the sincerity of Hailiang's team convinced the boy's parents to agree to let him go to school in China.

The parents gritted their teeth and sold the house so their son could study abroad, and the son returned after being successful and put the whole family in prison Thiên Di16:26:06 10/12/2023The story was widely shared across Chinese social networks. Just because they wanted their child to have a bright and successful future, his parents sold their whole house so they could have the opportunity to study abroad. Who would have thought that when he returned, the son who had harmed the whole family...