Cojoined Thai twin sisters Pin and Pan don’t wan’t separation surgery

Seven-year-old Pin and Pan, from Thailand, are conjoined at the waist.

Many twin sisters are close, sharing everything from clothes to their innermost secrets.

But seven-year-old Pin and Pan are quite literally inseparable – as they are joined at the waist and share two legs between them, forcing them to walk around on their hands.

The conjoined twins, from Thailand, were born with their own heads, torsos, and arms but only have one limb each.

Pin has control of one leg and Pan controls the other, and the pair have learned to walk, dress, eat – and even ride a tricycle – as one.

Doctors have raised the possibility of the sisters being separated, but their bond is so strong that both twins say they want to stay joined together forever.

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Conjoined: Seven-year-old Pin and Pan are quite literally inseparable – as they are joined at the waist and share two legs, forcing them to walk around on their hands like a crab

Inseparable: The sisters were born with their own heads, torsos, and arms but only have one limb each

Conjoined twins are very rare, occurring around once in every 2.5 million births.

The girls live in Nakhon Sawan, around 250km north of Bangkok, with their grandparents – who describe them as ‘normal, happy’ children.

‘They love singing, eating ice cream, helping each other with dressing up and giggling together,’ their grandmother, Noknoi Pongchumnan, said.

Pin and Pan have mastered the art of walking around crab-like on their hands and feet and can even climb two flights of stairs without help.

For longer distances, they ride a pink tricycle, and at school, a teacher pushes them from building to building in a wheelchair.

The twins attend Nakhonsawanpunyanukul Special School for disadvantaged children, where they are popular with both students and staff.

‘The other pupils thought Pin and Pan were different at first,’ their teacher, Prateep Suthat, said.

‘In the classroom, they were asking, “Why do two people have one body?” They wanted to get a closer look.

‘But after they spent time together, they realised Pin and Pan are the same as any other children, and now they all play together.’

Amazing: Pin has control of one leg and Pan controls the other, and the pair have learned to walk, dress, eat – and even ride a tricycle – as one

‘Normal children’: Grandmother Noknoi Pongchumnan and grandfather Sanay Rompoyen say the twins are just like other sisters and like to sing, eat ice cream, dress up and giggle together

Happy: Doctors have raised the possibility of Pin and Pan being separated, but their bond is so strong that both twins say they want to stay joined together forever

The twins’ teachers and grandparents hope that their education will give them the skills to live an independent life in the future.

‘I would like Pin and Pan to get jobs, because they have the potential and ability,’ says headteacher Sunan Japan.

The first time I saw them, it was a shock. I didn’t expect my grandchildren to be conjoined

Pin and Pan’s grandmother, Noknoi Pongchumnan

Their grandmother has high hopes for the twins too – she wants them to go to university and become doctors to help others with medical problems.

‘The first time I saw them, it was a shock. I didn’t expect my grandchildren to be conjoined,’ she said.

‘She came back from the hospital crying,’ the twins’ grandfather, Sanay Rompoyen, added.

Rompoyen admits he felt pity for the twins for the first couple of months after they were born.

But now he says he is proud of his grandchildren – even if they can be naughty sometimes.

He added: ‘They don’t like being told what to do. If they want to do something, they will do it. They are very spontaneous and stubborn kids.’

Happy: Conjoined twin girls don’t want to be separated

Naughty: The girls look extremely sweet but often misbehave, their grandfather said: ‘They don’t like being told what to do. If they want to do something, they will do it. They are very spontaneous and stubborn kids’

Unique: Despite being conjoined, Pin and Pan have different personalities. One likes wearing her hair short in a pixie style, while the other prefers her hair at a longer length, their grandmother said

And despite being physically joined, Pin and Pan’s personalities are far from identical.

‘One likes wearing her hair short in a pixie style, while the other prefers her hair at a longer length. One enjoys eating noodles, the other doesn’t,’ their grandmother added.

And the twins still maintain they do not want to be separated, despite doctors raising this as a possibility.

‘It might be nice if they could be separated,’ their grandfather said. ‘But I don’t think it’s possible, and they are happy as they are.’

Their grandmother added: ‘I’ve never wished to see them separated, even if they could. It has never crossed my mind.’