Thai Low-cost Housing Plan Puts Slum Dwellers in Charge

Phatsanee Phutkaew lost nearly everything she owned 10 years ago when her modest canalside home in Bangkok was damaged by Thailand's worst floods in decades, forcing the 55-year-old slum dweller and her neighbours to evacuate to emergency shelters.

BY Realty Plus
Published - Saturday, 17 Jul, 2021

Thai Low-cost Housing Plan Puts Slum Dwellers in Charge

Phatsanee Phutkaew lost nearly everything she owned 10 years ago when her modest canalside home in Bangkok was damaged by Thailand's worst floods in decades, forcing the 55-year-old slum dweller and her neighbours to evacuate to emergency shelters. Having waited nearly three months before they could go home, Phatsanee and her husband then met with officials who offered the community a plan to build new houses at a safer location. Eight years later, almost 300 families moved about 3 km (1.9 miles) to homes built with loans from the Community Organizations Development Institute (CODI), a government agency, under the Baan Mankong - or collective housing - programme. Bangkok is forecast to be among urban areas worldwide that are hit hardest by rising temperatures, with nearly 40% of the city likely to inundated each year as soon as 2030, according to the World Bank. That puts ten thousands of people living by canals, the Chao Phraya river and in slums at risk, say authorities who have, in recent years, stepped up efforts to remove informal settlements and relocate residents. The Baan Mankong programme, launched in 2003, aims to help slum dwellers get secure housing with subsidies and cheap loans for buying or leasing land, and to build or upgrade their homes. More than 130,000 urban and rural households across Thailand have benefited so far, including more than 15,000 households in canalside communities, according to CODI.