Saint Toon carries the cross for the entire nation as he runs from the deep South to the high North.
Saint Toon -- redeemer of budgetary sins and political kerfuffle, saviour of public healthcare woes and deep South strife -- is the Man of the Moment, bigger than the PM, braver than politicians, bolder than the army. Saint Toon, the knight in Nike in his cross-country uber-marathon to raise money for 11 state hospitals, is traversing the latitudes of our troubled Kingdom and stirring up a social phenomenon (and media circus) that captures and transcends the mood of the nation.
Artiwara Kongmalai, better known as Toon of the rock outfit Bodyslam, is running through the real and imagined Thailand. His plan is to cover 2,191 kilometres from Betong to Mae Sai, from the southernmost handle to the tip of the golden axe, in 55 days. In his first week, Toon has already invoked something inspiring: Running through the deep South, he braved some of the most dangerous districts of the country, and as he ran locals came out to greet him, clapping and shouting and putting money in his hands and garlands of banknotes around his neck. They believe in his altruistic cause. Or more simply, they believe in him.
That these locals will continue to live in the most dangerous districts of the country after Toon has sped past is a given. That their long wait at the public hospitals will continue to be as long, or perhaps slightly less long, as before given the donation being raised by Toon, is something they must already know. But for a moment, it seems they have something to cheer on, something larger than life -- or something to imagine, and imagination, however flimsy, is necessary. The photographs of Muslim women, in their burst of sincere enthusiasm, smiling at and being in awe of the wiry man is also great publicity for the narrative of harmonious Thailand, one that has been choreographed by the state but only felt genuine last week with Toon at the centre. If only he could keep running every day. If only he could keep the bombs away. If only the soldiers could ensure the safety of all people the same way as they did for Toon's charitable procession.
By this point, we can no longer doubt Toon's physical and psychological commitment. Pheidippides ran only 42km in BC490 from Marathon to Athens to forever become a legend; Toon is doing 42km every day for 55 days, with a break every four days, God help him, a truly Herculean effort unmatched by any Hellenic jogger.
But the gap between the real and imagined Thailand is large. Toon is offering to bridge it -- the gap between ideal public spending and what is actually spent, the gap of budget discrepancy between, say, weapons procurement and improved healthcare, the gap between the long-term duty of paying taxes and the transitory joy of charity, the gap between kindness and caution, the gap between everyday hardship and the bliss of selfie-ops with the most famous runner in Thailand, and yes, the ever-yawning, perhaps unbridgeable gap of our political divide.
There's also the gap of binary opposition into which politicised Thailand has been trapped. If you donate and support Toon all the way, you belong to the mentality of do-goodism that corresponds to the official narrative about tam kwam dee (do good deeds); but if you ask questions, even valid questions about the sustainability of the donation efforts, you face a backlash and may be accused of being a feet-dragging nitpicker, or the complainer who never got up to contribute anything to society.
Surely, Toon is generous and big-hearted enough to know that it's not an either-or situation, and that his charity run, the phenomenon that is going down in history, is inspiring, uplifting, heart-warming, as well as fleeting.
Thailand loves its heroes, and Toon embodies our idea of heroism: A popular entertainer who is polite to a fault, a monogamous rocker with a mild manner, a celebrity who's staunchly apolitical. A good man, in short. That's why the PM and the government throw their support behind him: They want the noble aura to rub off on them. They latch on to the symbol of hope because they have tried and failed to bridge the gap between real and imagined Thailand.
I wish him good luck. What he's attempting to do requires a strength of will of such magnitude I can't even begin to imagine. Saint Toon with the cross isn't facing the loneliness of the long-distance runner; he's facing the tougher task of giving a touch of reality to a collective, perhaps impossible dream. Run, Toon, run!
Kong Rithdee is Life editor, Bangkok Post.
