CHIANG MAI: An elderly woman frustrated over the years inaction by local authorities floated a krathong on the stagnant water covering a local road in Mae Rim district on Friday.
Phuangthong Nanthakwang, a 62 year-old resident at Ban Muang Kaew, is demanding that local authorities repair and maintain the neglected road her community has suffered through for several years.
Ms Phuangthong wore rubber boots as she waded through the standing water to float her krathong on the road, which is submerged under accumulated stormwater.
Her sardonic protest at the beginning of the Loy Krathong festival came after her petition requesting local authorities repair the road was ignored by the Muang Kaew tambon administration organisation.
Ms Phuangthong, who has lived in the village for six years, said she and the 30 other households in the area have had no choice but to use the poor, neglected road for many years. It was originally made of concrete, 5 metres wide and 700 metres long, but was now a broken and potholed stretch of stagnant water after any rain.
The TAO claimed it had no funds for maintenance as all money was spent on building the road.
She said the floodwater pooled because the centre of the road was lower than the outside, and there were no drainage ditches anyway. The stagnant water was a breeding ground for mosquitoes that carry diseases.
Ms Phuangthong said she would petition the government’s Damrongdhama complaint centre if the TAO does not pay heed to the community's plight.