Born in Phan Thiet in 1967, Pham's was the son of, Thong, a teacher, and his mother a laundress.
Pham had two sisters, Chi and Kay, and three younger brothers, Huy, Tien, and Hien.
During the Vietnam War, Thong worked for the South Vietnamese Army in its propaganda department.
During this period Chi, who had left home years earlier, returned as a transgender male with the name Minh.
He chronicled this journey in his book, Catfish and Mandala: A Two-Wheeled Voyage Through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam.