Experiential Learning
As an Asian student, who has been studying in Chulalongkorn University (for almost a year now), I invariably felt that Bangkok is a very interesting place with a large diversity of architecture, people, lifestyles, cultures, and historic communities. Yet, as Bangkok is one of the fastest growing cities in Asia that has been experiencing rapid urbanization in the last few decades, it is crucial that both tangible and intangible heritage should be conserved for the future generations to understand the culture of the city and enjoy its heritage. Or else, these irreplaceable heritages will be lost forever. “Managing the Change, Ban Panthom” international field school attracted me from the start as I considered it as a great opportunity to learn about various ways to deal with urban heritage and community development in historic area as rapid urbanization is occurring across Asia.
Since day 1, I was very much inspired by the field school instructors and the projects they have been working with communities such as the co-creation project in Thailand and Kampung Hakka Mantin in Malaysia. When we visited Ban Panthom (our study site) for the first time, the instructors pointed out the importance of traditional local businesses, informal places designed by the community themselves, and beautiful vernacular timber houses. This made me realized that not just the great and monumental, but the local places and people should consist of the cultural heritage and identity of the city. Though, the Ban Panthom area does not look very clean and hygienic at the first instance, yet the place has a strong sense of place. The main street and narrow alleys were lively with the street vendors, children and pet animals playing, elderly chatting with their neighbours while sitting outside their houses, small gardens and seating spaces created by the locals themselves, and the sound of the canal and zooming motorbikes. In addition, Ban Panthom community is also interesting as it consists of diverse people and cultures including local Thais, immigrants from other parts of Thailand and from neighbouring countries.
On day 2, we visited Pom Mahakan community together with Ajarn Sudjit who has been working with the community to save them from eviction by authorities. The community behind Pom Mahakan (Mahakan Fortress), located in the inner ring of Bangkok’s historical Rattanakosin Island, is almost as old as Bangkok itself, and the BMA wants to demolish the cluster of Thai vernacular timber houses behind the fortress wall where at least few hundred people live. The authorities want to develop this area into a public park. The community members told us about their struggles and how they must fight to continue living in this area. I was really fascinated by the idea of living museum within the existing area, the old vernacular timber houses, and the lifestyles of the locals to be the identity and culture of Bangkok (if not Thailand) for other people to explore and understand. This would certainly make the local community proud and they could continue to live in this area.
Day 3, we went back to the Ban Panthom community to learn in-depth about the lives of the people, their needs, and aspirations for further improvement in their area. We interviewed various people in the community, and later discussed within our groups the possible fields that need enhancement. For me, it is a great opportunity to have joined this field school and learn from instructors, my fellow participants from various universities around the world, and most importantly from the local communities.