1) The relocation of Bangkan slum dwellers in Bangkok has faced problems due to a lack of dweller-oriented housing and distrust from inconsistent government policies. Only 44% of surveyed dwellers were saving money for relocation as required, with many citing an unfair wealth gap. 2) Most dwellers preferred houses over government-planned flats and wanted to stay near the local market. However, flat prices increased with design changes, decreasing trust. 3) To improve future relocations, the government needs consistent policies and flexible community-based approaches, while providing housing aligned with dwellers' needs and abilities to pay.

1. A case study on housing problem in
Bangkan slum, Bangkok
Thai Project: Fumiaki Saito, Tetsuya Umemoto, Nozomi Sagane,
Satsuki Sugino, Yuan Hanwei, Le Bao Ngoc

2. About Thailand
• One of the developing countries in Southeast Asia
• Tourism
• Face with slum problem
• Better relationship with Japan

3. 31.7%

4. Slum in Thailand
• The percentage of slum population: 31.7% in 2006 (Arai, 1998 Endo, 2011)
• The number of slum people has been increasing sharply
• Located at public and private area
• Almost all slums located there illegally

5. Slum Relocation
• To remove a slum to another areaWhat
• The slum is located at public or
private area illegallyWhy
• Dwellers can live more secure houses
• It is better for their health etc.Advantages

6. Background information - CODI
• CODI = Community Organizations Development Institute
• Support & assist community organizations
• Build cooperation among community organizations & their networks
(local, provincial & national level)
• “Demand-driven” rather than “Supply driven”
• Make more efficient use of state resources for the poor

7. Background information – Bangkan Slum
• Big population (>1000 households)
• Dwellers with various backgrounds
(different cities, countries, single, married, etc.)
• Located near the biggest market and university in the area
• Are illegal settlements on public land
• Build houses along a polluted canal

8. Current issues
Government plan to
clean the canal
Slum dwellers have to leave
Government build
flats for relocation Slum dwellers cannot
afford flat price
CODI encourages them to save
money and promise to give loans
Slum dwellers still hesitate
in making decision

9. Purpose
• To find out the reasons why relocation in Bangkan slum is not working
well

10. Significance
Literature
Reviews
• Slum population in
Bangkok is
increasing
• Housing policies are
critiqued by many
researchers
Gap in LR
• Most LR focused on
comparison and
policy’s analyzation
• Non had looked
deeply into 1 slum
from different
perspectives
Significance
Relocation processes
of Bangkan slum will
be good example for
others slum to study

11. Methodology used
For government side
•Narratives from Government authorities
(CODI, Bangkan authority, architect)
•Literature Reviews
For dwellers side
•Semi-structured interview (n=2)
•Structured Questionnaire survey (n=47)
(Female:32, Male:15; Mean of age:48.24 years old, Median of family
members per household:6)

12. MAIN FINDINGS – GOVERNMENT SIDE

13. Main findings – Government perspective
Bangkan
Authority
CODI
Flat
Design
Team

14. Government
• Relocation plan
• Plan to build flats for slum dwellers (5 floors flat)
• Ask slum dwellers to move out within 90 days since June 2015 (lastest
announcement)
• Flats design has not finished yet -> Nowhere for slum dwellers to go
• Did the same for years -> Postpone in taking actions
-> Slum dwellers will end up feel no pressure and take no action too

15. Flat Design Team
• Try hard to design flat suitable with slum dwellers interests and pockets
• Gather slum dwellers and introduce the plan (flat design)
• Change design based on slum dwellers requirements and come back again
• Unfortunately the price of a unit (in flat) increases everytime
-> Some slum dwellers might misunderstand the design team intention
-> Decrease the trust of slum dwellers toward government

16. CODI
• Advice Bangkan Slum dwellers to form communities based on their
district with leaders
• Advice them to save money
• Promise to give loans if they can save a certain amount of money
• Provide assistances if slum communities ask for
-> Discipline slum dwellers & build network

17. Bangkan Slum Dwellers
• Do not want to move
• Do not have enough money to buy a unit in flat
• Wait until the flat is finished to make final decision
• Feel unfair with the different in saving fund
-> Save little money to buy time

18. Dwellers perspective

19. (1) Attitudes toward government housing
• Prefer house
About 91% cannot stand
living in the flat
• “Narrow”, “crowded”, “no
elevator”
n=42

20. (1) Attitudes toward government housing
• Prefer place near the market
to live(figure 2)
• Most of the respondents do
not like government
housing(figure 3)
Figure 2:The Most Important Thing (aside from price)
in Choosing Accommodation
n=33

21. (1) Attitudes toward government housing
5
37
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Yes No
Figure 3: Whether dwellers like government housing or not
n=42

22. (1) Attitudes toward government housing
•Do not really care about the design of the flat
•Not really dweller-oriented(Housing is not
aligned to dwellers’ needs)

23. (2) Attitudes toward the CODI
• Only 44.4% of the households interviewed kept saving money(n=45,
M=645.56 THB, SD=1473.13)
• “Unfair”: inner-slum wealth gap (n=41, Mean of monthly income =
3065.68 THB, SD=3257.73)

24. (3)Another problem:
distrust from inconsistency
“Government workers are making profit from us”
• Raise price
“Eviction will be put off”
• Twenty eight percent (28%) of the respondents(n=47)
• “The flat has not been constructed yet”
• “The plan has been put off for many times”

25. Conclusion
• The lack of dweller-oriented housing and distrust from
announcement inconsistency are relocation problems in Bangkan
slum.
• To relocate slums more effectively
1. Government should be consistent in releasing policies.
2. CODI’s policies should be more flexible depending on each slum
condition.

26. References and Bibliography
• Boonyabancha, S. (2003). A Decade of Change: From UCDO to CODI in Thailand. IIED.
London.
• CODI (2015). Retrieved December 4 from
https://www.dropbox.com/s/tswywakeq7q8vrs/Presentation24April15%20fromCODI.ppt
x?dl=0
• Hitomi, Y. (2013) The cuurent situation and problem of city slum in BKK: Case study of
khlongtoey slum NagoyaGakuin University 49(3), 95-106. Retrieved December 4 from
http://www2.ngu.ac.jp/uri/syakai/pdf/syakai_vol4903_07.pdf#search='%E3%82%BF%E3
%82%A4+%E3%82%B9%E3%83%A9%E3%83%A0'
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan（2007）. Japan-Thailand Economic Partnership
Agreement (EPA) Retrieved December 4 from
http://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/gaiko/fta/j_asean/thailand/pdfs/gaiyo.pdf
• Pornchokchai, S. (2008). Housing Finance Mechanism in Thailand. UN HABITAT.
• Toshio, T. (1998). A Big City of Asia, Nihonhyoronsya, P99.
• Habitat, U. N., (2002), Slums as expressions of social exclusion: explaining the prevalence
of slums in African countries, p. 21.
• Habitat, U. N. (2003). Global Report on Human Settlements 2003: The Challenge of
Slums.

27. Thank you for your listening!