The leper colony was set up by an American missionary three generations ago. The missionary was appalled by the numbers of lepers shunned from society and left homeless, many reduced to living under bridges and the likes. He asked the local king for permission to create the colony and was granted permission and given funds. The original huts were made from bamboo shoots, these however only lasted a few years And were soon replaced by a stronger wood. These huts did eventually become damp and by the colonies third generation were replaced by brick huts which are seen in the picture. Some of the wood huts still remain and I have photos of them. When the colony was originally created there were many lepers, now thank god there are only a few left and in Thailand as a whole there are only 500 cases which is most promising for the hope of one day fully removing the disease as was the case with small pox.