Kimhuay Luang-orn, 72, and Kaimook Ayachu, 65, never realised their excessive and arbitrary use of antibiotics could sicken them rather cure their illnesses until they attended a training session that dispelled their misconceptions about what they thought were "panacea" drugs.
Antibiotics sold freely over the counter have for years set off alarms for medical specialists. A training session, initiated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and sponsored partly by the World Health Organisation (WHO), held recently in Saraburi, was a re-education opportunity for residents who have come to rely on antibiotics for even simple illnesses.
Ms Kimhuay and Ms Kaimook, of tambon Lang Khao of Saraburi's Muak Lek district, were among the participants.
The women said they and most local farmers were accustomed to using antibiotics to treat common illnesses, such as colds or diarrhoea.
Even when they are not sick, they take antibiotics to stave off exhaustion from toiling the fields, according to the women.
"We pop antibiotic tablets thinking they can help protect us from falling ill," said Ms Kimhuay, adding some even mistook them for stamina boosters.
"This is not the right thing to do since taking antibiotics frequently and continuously over a long period of time in fact weakens one's health. Some people who are hooked on the medicine had trouble digesting," Ms Kimhuay said.
Ms Kaimook said the training session opened her eyes to the danger of eating meat contaminated with antimicrobial-resistant bacteria, as their livestock is fed with antibiotic-mixed feed. This causes humans to develop drug resistance.
Farmers have been told not to feed antibiotics to their livestock, she said.
Both women are part of "School for the Elderly" project, sponsored by the Social Development and Human Security Ministry to enable senior citizens to acquire knowledge about issues closest to their hearts, which can improve their quality of life and enable them to be more dependent.
The women also volunteered to buy medicines from local pharmacies for a lab test to see if the drugs contained harmful substances.
Saraburi is a pilot province under the campaign to re-educate locals on antibiotics, which began in 2007. The campaign highlights how people should not use antibiotics to cure simple illnesses including diarrhea, according to Ketsanee Kongsomboon, director of Lang Khao of Tambon Health Promoting Hospital, where the training session was held.
She explained it was crucial to change people's attitude toward antibiotics.
"Villagers always ask doctors to prescribe them medicines. We must resist and give advice on how they can take care of their health," Ms Ketsanee said.
Some patients who cannot get antibiotics at a hospital opt to buy them from pharmacies instead. Some regular antibiotics users develop allergies to the drugs, she said.
She said people should be educated that they should not buy medicine without consulting doctors.
Contrary to what many believe, a nasal discharge does not necessarily mean they have bacterial infection, she said. This symptom suggests the patients are recovering and they do not need antibiotics.
She said drug-resistant patients require more time for treatment and they need stronger and more expensive medicine to cure their maladies.
Nopporn Pongplumpitichai, chief of the Saraburi Provincial Health Office, said the increase in excessive use of antibiotics is partly blamed for deaths in some patients.
The Public Health Ministry regards the antibiotics issue as a priority under its national strategic plan, he said.
Phraphutthabat Hospital in Saraburi's Phra Phutthabat district, which has also joined the ASU campaign, says it has saved more than 20 million baht per year in antibiotics expenses after medical practitioners, nurses, pharmacists and locals worked together to reduce antibiotics in treatment.
Thossapon Sirisopitkul, director of the hospital, said staff and local communities have advised local residents on the proper use of antibiotics.
Since the ASU campaign started 10 years ago, the use of antibiotics has dropped and the hospital's expenses have fallen by 25% a year.
Another organisation which steps up efforts to combat drug resistance is the National Health Security Office (NHSO). The agency has teamed up with various organisations to campaign for rational use of antibiotics.
The office also worked with the Public Health Ministry and medical schools to come up with indicators to gauge how much money hospitals nationwide have managed to save on their antibiotics bill.
Between 2012 and 2014, prescriptions of antibiotics had dropped by 10.1% for the treatment of those suffering diarrhoea and fell by 8.8% for the treatment of patients with acute infections of the upper respiratory tract, said Atthaporn Limpanyalert, an assistant to the NHSO secretary-general.
According to Mr Atthaporn, people stand a better chance of avoiding simple illnesses if they drink and eat food with herbal ingredients, such as tamarind, lime and butterfly pea.
It is important to share this knowledge with people, particularly the students and the elderly, so they know how to stay healthy and take care of themselves when they are sick, he said.