My First Impression of Bangkok City
We (8Nos. participants from the University of Malaya) reached Bangkok on the July 2, 2017. When we reached Don Mueang International Airport, I was a little disappointed because I believed what I envisioned is a representation of Bangkok. I was excited however, when I was told that we still have to travel around forty-five minutes by taxi to get to our accommodation, Chulalongkorn University’s International House in the downtown area. On our way to the International House, I saw several commercial; residential; and office buildings which, while seemingly modern, they yet kept their Thai identity. The feelings conveyed by them and their details were different compared to those I encountered in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam when I visited it a week ago.
On July 3 (first day of the Field School), after the briefing session at Chula’s Do Visual Lab (our base during the Field School duration), we visited to our study site – Ban Panthom for the first site survey to gather an overall picture of the community and their immediate surroundings. Ban Panthom is an old community located alongside Klong Sansaeb and is surrounded with several Thai vernacular timber houses. These houses are about hundred years old and some of them are in a good condition, suggesting that they are well-loved by their residents. Our task is to explore how heritage values are identified, evaluated, preserved, and presented; and the vital function of community participation in sustainable urban development. In my opinion, our project is meaningful – not only for us, but also for the local community. We should always appreciate the value of heritage and preserve it (and I possible, even enhance it) so that it would not be lost with the passage of time.
Today (Day 2 of the Field School, July 4), we visited the Pom Mahakan (Mahakan Fort) community to understand the role of communities in heritage conservation as a vital part of wider historic urban landscape management. I found it inspiring how the Pom Mahakan community has been fighting passionately for the last two decades against their eviction and relocation by the authorities. The authorities plan to develop a public park in the same area along the canal to attract more tourists. However, most of the community members still want to continue living in their old vernacular timber houses. To demonstrate that they could co-exist with a public park, the community turned some of the existing open spaces into a park with the intention of introducing it as a tourist attraction. One may walk within the walls of the fortress to experience the living heritage with each family proudly putting up a sign, poster, or newspaper articles in front of their houses to share their own stories. The community themselves created a museum to highlight the cultural significance of their community. The community members proudly showed us beautiful detailed drawings of their houses drawn by architecture students who worked together with the local community to document their built heritage.
Since the start of this Field School, I discovered that the most significant part of any historic building is its human aspect. Trying to understand why a building in the past has been built in a specific way is the foundation that the new generation of architects should keep in mind before designing for the present and the future needs. It is very unfortunate that currently, several pseudo-traditional buildings with fake building elements to match authentic historic buildings and the taste of nouveau riche are in vogue in most developing Asian countries. To conclude, I feel quite fortunate that I am a part of this Field School and looking forward to exploring heritage potentials and find innovative resolutions to preserve the same, and to acquire an understanding of varied heritage vulnerabilities and various ways to address the same. We have two more weeks till the completion of this Field School, and I am excited for the coming days.
