OznAsia

My friends, Ead and Tong, live in the suburbs of Bangkok not far from where I was living last year. There is a small canal that runs at the back of their house. When I first visited, some years ago, there was what they described as a 'traditional village' among the trees on several acres of land on the other side of the canal. I gather that the land on which the village stood changed hands a few years back and the village was pulled down. Some time later, squatters built what I would call 'temporary dwellings' on the land. They lived there, apparently happily, for a few years. When I arrived earlier this year much of the land had been cleared and it looked like roads were being built. On my latest visit, last weekend, I see that many new temporary dwellings have appeared. Some but not all of the old ones have gone.

In Thailand, it seems from my observations, builders labourers don't have a permanent home but move onto the site where they are going to be working, along with their families. Before they erect the permanent buildings they build temporary homes like these. I guess there is going to be quite a lot of construction going on there over the coming months and in the mean time these dwellings house Ead and Tong's newest neighbours.

Labels: Asia, Bangkok, housing, thailand