Residents at HIV home in Roi Et survive on donations after death of senior monk

But with few resources, the only cremation they can undertake is to put the bodies of those who pass away on a pile of old tyres and light a fire.
“Without the tyres, you would need to use a significant amount of coal – in other words cash,” a 29-year-old woman at the shelter said. “As we live off donations, we have to keep it simple where we can.” 
She does not mind if one day her body is cremated in the same way. 
“When I came here, I knew it was going to be my place of death anyway,” she said. “It’s just that for as long as I stay healthy enough, I will take care of those who have been in poorer health.” 
This is a harsh reality that all 38 residents at Ban Ruam Namjai at the Sri Mongkhontham Forest Monastery have come to terms with. But the news caused a few tears when their story went “viral” on the Internet recently.
Early this month, a Facebook user posted the story on social media in the hope of raising donations for the small shelter, so that life is not too hard for residents at Ban Ruam Namjai.
And now donations have started to flow in. 
A former abbot of Sri Mongkhontham Forest Monastery, Phra Khru Kittiyarak, set up the shelter in 1995 to extending a helping hand to people living with HIV. 
All residents at the shelter have no family to return to. It is not that family members have passed away, just that their families have ignored them. 
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a resident recounted that her parents had separated and both had remarried. 
Disoriented and lonely, she started living a reckless life from a very young age. By the time she reached 14 years old, she tested positive to HIV. Without any moral support and proper counselling, she continued living a risky life and failed to get proper medical treatment. At the age of 20, her health worsened to the point that she could not live independently anymore. 
She applied for help at a temple, but ended up at Ban Ruam Namjai. 
“I feel I am useful here. There are not too many rules either,” she said. 
Ban Ruam Namjai sits in a cemetery zone, just opposite Sri Mongkhontham Forest Monastery.
When Phra Khru Kittiyarak was alive, he helped the shelter a lot. But after his passing in 2014, residents have had to fend largely for themselves. While locals have given donations and accepted the current residents, they have made it clear that the shelter must not take in any more people. 
Village head Sao Chanchamni has handled management of the shelter in place of the late monk. 
Dr Annop Rattanawannachai, director of Sri Somdej Hospital, said his hospital had treated residents of Ban Ruam Namjai, including a migrant from Myanmar. 
“I have been trying to provide advice too so that they can live a relatively healthy life,” he said. 
One of the doctor’s key warnings is not to engage in unprotected sex, as that could aggravate HIV infections and cause other health problems.