Toon gets hometown welcome in Suphan Buri
Suphan Buri folk came out to wait for and cheer charity run hero Artiwara “Toon” Kongmalai early on Friday when he resumed his epic charity campaign on Day 38.
Toon was born and raised in the central province of Suphan Buri. People came in the middle of the night to wait for him along the road. Toon and his group at 3.30am began his first lap from PTT Lak Mueang petrol station on the Suphan Buri bypass road in Tambon Tha Rahad in Mueang district. On that leg, Toon ran for 15.1 kilometres to Sata Wang Yang hospital in Sri Prachan district.
About 150 students from Suphan Buri Sports School joined approximately 500 other Suphan Buri residents beginning at 1.30am as they awaited the highly praised rockstar-cum-charity fundraiser. A large crowd had gathered by 2am as they waited to hand him a small cash donation. Nonglak Damrongsaksakulchai, 91, said she had her grandchildren bring her in a wheelchair her to wait for Toon at 2am in front of Tesco Lotus Suphan Buri.
She said her home is near Toon’s house and she has seen Toon since he was a kid. She wanted to wish him good health and to reach his destination safe and sound. She handed over Bt50,000 in cash to Toon. On the roadside in Moo 8 village in Tambon Wang Yang in Sri Prachan, 456 monks waited to chant a prayer and bless Toon for a safe run. Source: Asia Nation
