After four years of hard work and dedication a monk in Ubon Ratchathani province managed to persuade alcoholics in two villages to give up the demon drink.

And now both villages are alcohol-free.

It could be said that Ban Non Makhua and Ban Non Dokkaew villages were once notorious as places full of drunks. Even primary school students were said to be regular drinkers.

But thanks to Phra Kru Supakijmongkol, who moved to Wat Non Makhua on 2003, the sale of alcohol is now banned in the villages.

"When I moved to the area, the villagers were in an almost constant state of drunkenness. It caused violence in families and fighting between neighbours.

"So, I told myself that I had to do something and decided to begin with the youths," said the 56-year-old monk.

Primary and secondary school-level youths in Ban Non Makua village could regularly be seen drinking. So, the monk used computers as part of his tactics.

Phra Kru Supakijmongkol brought the first 10 computers to the village and allowed only those who had good behaviour and did not drink to use them.

This tactic proved successful fairly quickly as the youths preferred the computers to drinking.

The next target was the adult villagers. Phra Kru Supakijmongkol founded a savings group from which alcoholics could take out smaller loans than those who did not drink.

Then, the monk set a rule that whoever wanted to bring alcohol to drink at a religious event at Wat Non Makua had to pay Bt1,000. This meant low-income villagers would have to choose between alcohol and attending temple events.

Phra Kru Supakijmongkol also persuaded alcoholics to stop drinking by teaching them about the disadvantages of drinking and by giving moral support to those who intended to stop.

The next step was to totally rid Ban Non Makua village, which consists of 94 households, of alcohol altogether.

"I continually asked four shop owners in the village to stop selling alcohol and, fortunately, they cooperated," said the monk.

Phra Kru Supakijmongkol then used the same measures for the nearby Ban Non Dokkaew village, where more than 80 households are now living without alcohol.

Suwan Appakarn, 45, a Ban Non Makhua villager who had been an alcoholic for 20 years, said that thanks to Phra Kru Supakijmongkol he had been tee-total for three years.

Suwan worked as a construction labourer on a daily wage of less than Bt200, of which he spent Bt70 on alcohol every day.

"I never had any savings. Then one day I looked at my children and realised that they were growing up and they should have better lives. So, I decided to stop drinking. But it's not easy," he said.

With the help and moral support of Phra Kru Supakijmongkol, Suwan finally stopped drinking and now campaigns with the monk to urge others to do the same.

"Our life together has changed a lot since he stopped drinking," said Suwan's wife Boonmee, whose eyes brimmed with tears as she spoke.

She said Suwan would beat her when he was drunk and the family never experienced happiness. But all that has changed now Suwan is sober.

"He's always at home with our children now. We stopped fighting and the family has some savings," said Boonmee.

Udomsilp Srisaengnam, the vice president of the Thai Health Promotion Foundation, says, however, that alcohol consumption is increasing.

Research by the foundation found that Phrae province was top of the list for alcohol consumption, with 60 per cent of residents drinking on a regular basis. This is followed by Uttaradit, Phayao and Chiang Rai.

The research also found a small sub-district in Nan province where one-third of the 7,400 residents spread among 14 villages are considered alcoholics.

In the period January 2005 to January 2006, drinkers in Srisaket sub-district were found to have spent as much as Bt3.9 million on alcohol.

"The money they spent on alcohol is more than what they spent on education expenses for their children," said Udomsilp.

Chatrarat Kaewmorakot

The Nation