Thai actor Phakin Khamwilaisak, better known as “Tono”, has raised over 60 million baht with his charity swim across the Mekong River off Nakhon Phanom yesterday to raise funds for hospitals in the northeastern province and neighbouring Laos.

 

Phakin, swimming under the theme “One Man And The River”, covered a total distance of 15 kms along the Mekong River that took him to Khammouane province on the Laotian side where he was given a rousing welcome.

 

The whole venture took about seven hours. After arriving at That Sikhottabong Temple in Khammouane, Phakin and his team took a ride to Khammouane Hospital to meet its medical staff. Parts of the funds being raised will be donated to the Laotian hospital.

 

Phakin said his charity swim was intended to raise money to buy medical equipment for the main hospitals in Nakhon Phanom and Khammouane.

 

Full story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/tonos-mekong-swim-raises-over-60-million-baht/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2022-10-24

 

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I know 60 million baht sounds a lot, but when you think of it as less than 1 baht per person in thailand it kinda does not look so big

Nice to see.  I hope all the money goes to the right place.

Nice to see a human accomplishment instead of failure for a change.  Well done!

He must have taken the long or scenic route. According to Google Maps, the distance, as the crow flies between the points (as nominated in the Thaiger article) is 5.67km.

 

Still, well done. Very good effort to swim that far & raise so much money.

 

 

7 hours ago, webfact said:

Thai actor Phakin Khamwilaisak, better known as “Tono”, has raised over 60 million baht with his charity swim across the Mekong River off Nakhon Phanom yesterday to raise funds for hospitals in the northeastern province and neighbouring Laos.

Excellent... maybe ole Fatty will give it a go, he has the time on his hands.

Well done.  Thailand needs more of this type of generous person.  I hope all the money goes to the hospitals and is not siphoned off in 'administrated costs'.

4 hours ago, hotchilli said:

Excellent... maybe ole Fatty will give it a go, he has the time on his hands.

I can see it now. Buoy oh buoy......????

Was just along the river, the water level is high and the current is crazy fast. 

5 hours ago, Lapun said:

He must have taken the long or scenic route. According to Google Maps, the distance, as the crow flies between the points (as nominated in the Thaiger article) is 5.67km.

 

Still, well done. Very good effort to swim that far & raise so much money.

 

 

He swam back after a break where he was welcomed on the Laos side and met medical staff from the Laos hospital 

 

"from the pavilion across the Mekong River to That Sikhottabong Temple in Khammouane."

 

and:

"6km, from Ban Na Muang in Laos back to the starting point in Nakhon Phanom province"

 

 

Do we ever see any follow-up on these charity spectacles?

 

Toon Bodyslam got some pushback on his announced charity run to benefit education (109 Km, 109 students benfiting) - I'm not sure that one ever made it past the idea phase? That pushback highlighted that these sorts of events are really just window-dressing, making people feel good for a day or two, but do little to addresss underlying issues.

 

And why no follow-up on the money he "raised", for hospitals, running the length of the country in 2017?

 

 

Stupid question: how was that not an illegal entry? Even as a Thai he still needs to get stamped in/out?

Kudos to what authority ever made it possible though.

Hilarious idea: enter Friendship Bridge 1 Nong Khai, drift downstream and exit Friendship 2 Mukhdahan -- you can actually nap while floating and grinding distance.

11 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

I know 60 million baht sounds a lot, but when you think of it as less than 1 baht per person in thailand it kinda does not look so big

How much have you raised for Thai hospitals?

 

At least he DID something.

1 hour ago, bamnutsak said:

Do we ever see any follow-up on these charity spectacles?

 

And why no follow-up on the money he "raised", for hospitals, running the length of the country in 2017?

 

Rather uninformed cynical response when a five second search is available.

Simply google "Toon bodyslam hospital donation". Well covered by national news in Thai and English, for example:

 

Thailand

Toon Bodyslam hands over 1.3 billion baht donation to 11 hospitals

25 Feb 2018

BANGKOK, 25th February 2018 (NNT) – Famous singer Arthivara Kongmalai, better known as Toon Bodyslam, presented 1.3 billion baht of public donations raised from the charity marathon run late last year to 11 hospitals to be used in the acquisition of necessary medical equipment.

The donation was handed over to Maj Gen Nimit Samotharn, director of Phra Mongkutklao hospital, on behalf of a representative of the 11 hospitals at Rot Fai Park.

The 1,300 million baht donation will be distributed to 11 hospitals as following: Phra Mongkutklao hospital 221 million baht; Khon Kaen hospital 143 million baht; Surat Thani hospital 136.5 million baht; Ratchaburi hospital 130 million baht; Chiang Rai Prachasongkroh hospital 110.5 million baht; Saraburi hospital 104 million baht; Yala hospital 91 million baht; Nakhon Ping hospital in Chiang Mai 91 million baht; Chao Phraya Yommaraj hospital 91 million baht; Chao Phraya Abhaiphubet hospital in Prachin Buri 91 million baht and Chao Nan hospital 91 million baht.

 

Edited October 24, 20223 yr by gomangosteen

57 minutes ago, bamnutsak said:

And why no follow-up on the money he "raised", for hospitals, running the length of the country in 2017?

Guess you don't watch local TV stations.

Impressive! Well done! 

 

Others, who should be allocating funds to hospitals, schools, infrastructure, etc. should watch this guy, and others like him, and learn how it's done. 

On 10/24/2022 at 10:22 AM, Lapun said:

He must have taken the long or scenic route. According to Google Maps, the distance, as the crow flies between the points (as nominated in the Thaiger article) is 5.67km.

 

Still, well done. Very good effort to swim that far & raise so much money.

 

 

The 1st leg would have been really easy; virtually just drifting down with the current, but swimming back would have been hard work against the flow.

 

I suspect that to please the crowds he swam downstream close to the Thai shore then maybe crossed the river directly just north of the sandbank, where it is quite wide, and then downstream close to the Laos shore for the spectators there. If a similar route on return this could add the distance to make it a 15k swim.

4 hours ago, SunsetT said:

The 1st leg would have been really easy; virtually just drifting down with the current, but swimming back would have been hard work against the flow.

 

I suspect that to please the crowds he swam downstream close to the Thai shore then maybe crossed the river directly just north of the sandbank, where it is quite wide, and then downstream close to the Laos shore for the spectators there. If a similar route on return this could add the distance to make it a 15k swim.

Does it really matter exactly how far he swam?

 

He did what he tried for.

 

Could YOU have done it? I know I couldn't.

 

6 hours ago, billd766 said:

Does it really matter exactly how far he swam?

 

He did what he tried for.

 

Could YOU have done it? I know I couldn't.

 

Im not being critical, just theorising on how the distance could be 15k.

9 minutes ago, SunsetT said:

Im not being critical, just theorising on how the distance could be 15k.

probably got dragged downstream by the current.

Every baht counts.