Athiwara “Toon” Khongmalai is probably one name that we do not know in this part of our country but to the people of Thailand, he is their national hero because of what he has done for the country. On 1st November, 2017 , Toon started his charity run from the most southern tip of Thailand, Betong, Yala and ended a 2,215km run to the most northern tip of Thailand , Mae Sai, Chiang Rai on 25th December, 2017 to raise funds for 11 public hospitals in Thailand. At the end of the run, his charity organization Kao Kon La Kao raised THB 1.37 billion which doubled their initial target of THB 700milion.
To be perfectly honest, I’ve not heard of this man until I watched “2215” on Netflix. The documentary was one that moved me very deeply. Lying back one evening after dinner, I browsed through the documentary section of Netflix and came across a very funny title of “2215”. Honestly, it intrigued me and soon, I was engrossed into it. This documentary digitally documented one’s man effort to make his country believable again. This is one man who takes the real effort to unite the country despite the unnerving political and economical difficulties that rocked his country. This was one man who saw the needs of others and passionately took it into his heart to do something about it. He did what he knows best as a singer, artist, musician and a runner. He simply put on his running shoes and ran his life for 55 days for the believable love his countrymen and his country.
Toon Bodyslam as he is fondly known had heard the cries of public hospitals who were having difficulties in running their health care facilities due to dwindling funds from the country coffers for health care programs and machineries. Many amenities that are standard in the big city become a luxury outside of Bangkok. One of the biggest concerns of all would be the quality of healthcare available in hospitals outside of Bangkok. You can find that most of it has run-down facilities and outdated equipment. Families are still paying quite a premium in return for a sub-standard medical care from underfunded hospitals. One man set out to change this and he did it like no other people can. That man is Artiwara “Toon Bodyslam” Kongmalai.
One question people most frequently ask is :- Why doesn’t he organize a concert or two as the means to raise the money instead? His answer is simple; running, which is an act of putting one foot in front of another, is an action that most people are capable of. He wants to lead by example and shift people’s mindset to believe that anyone can make a difference. Watching the documentary moved me a lot as I see how the ordinary folks from all walks of life responded to Toon’s effort by giving generously to the charity run. It was most humbling to see Toon going down on his knees to receive blessings of love, prayers and money from older folks and the people in general. The responses from the people along villages and towns were overwhelmingly appreciative, carnival–like and truly heartwarming. Indeed, there were frustrations, disappointments and injuries along the run suffered by Toon and his team members but these were eclipsed by the great effort of the medical team and the team members overall. The overall effort to make this run a real success was truly magical and momentous. The huge sacrifices, big hearts , the humongous patience and endurance had helped make this run such a great success. 55 gruelling days of muscle aches, cramps, injuries , endurance and boisterous weather made it all a more meaningful in such a cause such as this.
This man has earned my respect of truly being a man with an enlarged heart of compassion. Maybe, it all seemed so dramatic in the documentary but it is not that way in real life. Running almost 50 km a day is no simple feat nor a joke. That’s the distance one has to achieve each day and a parcel sets of distance, rest and meals. For simple folks like us, we would all rather throw a fistful of ringgits into the offering bag rather than taking up our shoes to run, right? Here was a man who would do a marathon run each day for 55 days. How about that? It is no simple feat, I tell you. For us the comfort of the plush bed and soft pillows are such comfort that plundering footstep on the paved tarred roads seemed such an arduous torture lest running for 50km a day!
To me, seeing this man crossed the finished line in Mae Sai, Chiang Rai seemed like a great achievement but to me, it is much more than this. The mental, physical and spiritual achievement were far more greater than the physical punishment on the physical body
The correct, teachable and cohesively positive attitude changes everything about this run. I remembered seeing the humanly side of this man who at one stage out of frustration threw down something and it hit one of his crew. He immediately reacted by hugging his crew and apologizing profusely for venting out his frustrations. That was the raw human attitude of us and the greater respond that came thereafter. I captured that in my mind as that scene made me felt very humbled inside. I realized that sometimes our venting out will hurt others unknowingly in the process and it is really hard at times.
Yeah, the documentary does highlight the human side of life for every person in this world of ours. It shows us that with a great compassionate heart, care, the right focus, pure honesty for a cause and a great giving heart, we can make this place we live in a little better. For the Thai people, they have found belief, hope and care in the steps of a running man in Toon Bodyslam.
“The real phra ake ( leading man ) in this film is every Thai person, not me." Athiwara “Toon” Khongmalai.
What a finish, I tell you!
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