Charity runner and rock singer Artiwara “Toon” Kongmalai arrived in Tak early Friday morning, passing the 1,700km mark of his marathon, with donations rising above 827 million baht during the day.
The frontman of Bodyslam band began his day before 4am, running from the starting point in Kosamphi district in Kamphaeng Phet province and entered Tak in Wang Cha district. Toon planned to run 55.80km on Friday.
The rocker began his fundraising 2,191km marathon in Betong district, Yala on Nov 1. He has run more than 1,730km, almost 80% of the total course, spending around 307 hours on the road. He plans to reach the final destination, in Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai, on Dec 25.
He will rest one day on Saturday and resume his run on Sunday.
Toon initially aimed to raise 700 million baht, or about 10 baht each person in Thailand. The donations will be given to 11 state hospitals to buy essential medical equipment.
The official website for the run, www.kaokonlakao.com, said donations exceeded 827 million baht shortly after noon on Friday.
The runner’s team auctioned four pairs of his running shoes on Thursday night, raising a total of 4.4 million baht. The highest price paid for one pair was 1.45 million baht.
In December last year, the rocker raised 85 million baht for Bang Saphan Hospital by running 400km from Bangkok to the hospital in Prachuap Khiri Khan.
