#trending: Thai man’s 300km road trip to his hometown with 11 cats in motorcycle sidecar goes viral

THAILAND  — A Thai man’s cross-country journey with his 11 cats on a sidecar motorcycle donated to him by fellow cat lovers has gone viral on social media. 

Mr Choowong Thepkoh, known as "Uncle Samsen", embarked on a road trip from Bangkok to his hometown of Nakhon Ratchasima, also known as Korat, with his feline companions on Sunday (March 19). 

It was his first return there in 26 years. He left his hometown when residents there made fun of his financial woes after his construction firm went bust in the 1997 financial crisis.

The nearly 300km route took the man and his cats almost five hours, Thai newspaper The Thaiger reported.

To support him on his journey, a popular Thai cat community called Kingdom of Tigers —with more than 3.1 million followers on Facebook — called for cat food donations and support from online users if they spotted him on his journey up north. 

The cat community had also raised money to buy the sidecar motorcycle so that Mr Thepkoh could travel with his cats.

A team from Korat escorted the 65-year-old safely to his destination, The Thaiger reported.

Mr Thepkoh has become something of an internet celebrity, with many online users posting on TikTok their sightings of him on his journey. The hashtag “Uncle Samsen” in Thai has garnered more than 808,000 views on TikTok. 

Decked out in matching apparel, Mr Thepkoh’s cats, which he affectionately calls his “children”, are often seen in the videos relaxing in his sidecar motorcycle as he bikes along the highway.

At night, cat signs on the swanky scooter lights up.

Mr Thepkoh revealed in an interview with Thai broadcaster Amarin TV that he was travelling to Korat so that his cats could visit his birthplace.

He also wanted to do business at the annual flea market, which has resumed after three years of hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Mr Thepkoh makes a living from selling amulets and knick-knacks at flea markets in the Pom Prap Sattru Phai district of Bangkok. He also sells trash to a recycling factory, The Thaiger reported. 

Mr Thepkoh’s past, however, is not filled with road trips and snuggly felines.

Once the owner of a small construction firm in Korat who had managed to get ahead financially, he lost everything when he went bankrupt in the economic crisis in 1997, the Kingdom of Tigers Facebook page recounted.

With only 300 baht (S$12) to his name, he travelled around Thailand to earn a living to recover from his setback.

When he returned to Korat a few months later, he was mocked over his predicament, as “someone who used to have it all”.

Mr Thepkoh decided to leave his hometown for Bangkok, where he spent a period homeless, and has not returned to Korat in the 26 years since until his recent trip.

When he was homeless in Bangkok, the only thing that cheered him up were the stray cats who “loved him unconditionally”, he told Kingdom of Tigers.

Despite his financial struggles, he pledged never to abandon the cats. He would sometimes skip meals to make sure his cats were fed, news site Next Shark reported.

“Someone once offered to buy Thong Kwak (the cat) for 20,000 baht, but I refused to sell it, fearing that the person would become bored of taking care of it and abandon it,” Mr Thepkoh said.

“I want to take care of it until the day it dies.”

No explanation was given as to why a stray cat would be worth so much.