You could spend the day at the district office, fire off angry tweets or collect some envelope cash for venal administrators.
Or, in the case of one Khon Kaenite frustrated by an exquisitely potholed road, ditch the red tape and cosplay as an astronaut walking on the cratered surface of the moon.
That’s exactly what a resident of Khon Kaen’s Huai Jod subdistrict did. Slipping on a helmet and white hazmat suit while gripping a Thai flag proudly/not proudly, he slowly strode through the road craters for a photoshoot which has been going viral.
“Breaking news: A new planet discovered on Ban Huai Jod-Nong No Road, Huai Jod subdistrict, Kranuan district,” reads one video caption. “[We’re] waiting for the authorities who are responsible for this. Please share for the sake of the road to our homes.”
The act was not an excuse for 33-year-old Chaluayjit Wansueb to have some fun, but to call out the local government for failing to repair the road, which appears to be pockmarked with potholes for what she said is a good 3 kilometers in her neighborhood.
And it worked. Responding to the viral clips – which have made headlines and even television news – Somsak Jungtrakul, provincial governor, said he saw the videos and ordered repairs to the road.
It’s the latest evolution in what’s become a time-honored way to shame municipalities into doing their jobs with a little humor.
Back in 2016, a woman’s bath in a pothole in her hometown successfully embarrassed local authorities into repairing it to the tune of THB2 million (US$60,000).
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Thai woman takes bath in pothole to protest bad condition of her hometown’s roads (Photos)
