Omkoi villagers receive food as payment for building roads
Omkoi villagers building roads for the past decade have been paid in food collected by a monk because there is no government funding for district development.
Villagers said 47-year-old Phra Pisan Prachanukul asked them to build five roads linking Omkoi to Tha Song Yang district in Tak. He pays them with the food he collects every day. Three of the roads have been completed, as well as eight kilometres of the other two. Altogether the five roads will span approximately 105 kilometres and include two bridges. A long-time Omkoi resident, Phra Pisan has been working to improve the district's poor infrastructure since 1997. There was no state funding to improve the roads and the monk was worried that residents could not reach hospitals quickly in emergencies. Children faced difficulty attending school as well.
Jirat Prasertsup Citylife CHIANG MAI
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