KHON KAEN - Villagers of Kam Kaen Tai in Mancha Khiri district bathed on a potholed road in a desperate bid to draw attention to their problem.
The elderly left the village clad in sarong and holding plastic water bowls to take a symbolic bath on a section of the two-kilometre road.
The villagers have been asking authorities to fix the road for a long time but there has been no response.
They said the road was the only route to Ban Kam Kaen Tai and Ban Pradu in tambon Kam Kaen.
Sanam Jumangva, 72, said she was injured in an accident while riding her bicycle on the road so she persuaded friends to take the symbolic move in the hope their voice will reach the local administration.
She said the villagers were in trouble for a long time, especially during the rainy season.
Harn Upatham, chairman of Kam Kean Tambon Administration Organisation, said the administration had already allocated 470,000 baht to fix the road but the repairs would begin after the rainy season.
Khon Kaen villagers are not the first to try to draw authorities' attention this way. Last week, a woman in Tak’s Mae Ramat district posted the photo of herself taking a bath on a 600m potholed road in Ban Teen That.
Vathit Tanyakhom, Mae Ramat district chief, said the district had followed up on the repairing of the road to Ban Teen That in tambon Phra That and has urged the local administration to urgently repair the road.
The potholed road in Ban Kam Kaen Tai has been used as a bathing room by villagers in protest against the slow response of authorities to fix it. (Photo by Jakkraphan Natunri)