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Samak To Relocate 1,700 Slums Out Of Bangkok


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Samak to relocate 1,700 slums out of Bangkok

BANGKOK: -- Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej said Friday that his government would relocate 1,700 slum communities out of Bangkok in the near future.

He said the communities would be turned into parks instead.

He was speaking at a seminar organized by the National Economic and Social Development Board on the visions for Thailand for 2027.

-- The Nation 2008-08-15

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Samak to relocated 1,700 slums out of Bangkok

BANGKOK: -- Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej said Friday that his government would relocate 1,700 slum communities out of Bangkok in the near future.

He said the communities would be turned into parks instead.

He was speaking at a seminar organized by the National Economic and Social Development Board on the visions for Thailand for 2027.

-- The Nation 2008-08-15

And how are they all going to get to work at below minimum wage swinging off rickety scaffolding? Oh yes, the free trains. Anyone check if Samak and his cronies have been buying up large tracts of land recently?

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Proof he lacks any understanding of economy.

Good news people, living expenses for those still remaining in the city will go up with 35%, fast. Never mind that the relocated people will have no jobs nor money to survive on.

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Samak to relocated 1,700 slums out of Bangkok

BANGKOK: -- Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej said Friday that his government would relocate 1,700 slum communities out of Bangkok in the near future.

I wonder where the slums will be relocated to from this latest 'hub'?

He said the communities would be turned into parks instead.

Sounds like he took a page out of Robert Mugabe's policies.

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Don't be too quick to judge. Why must we always assume the worse?

Samak hasn't said he is throwing them out on the streets. Let's see what they have in store for these people first.

The residents of these impoverished areas may end up with a better standard of housing (Baan Ua Athorn for example) than where they are today.

Besides Bangkok really does need more parkland. If done well (and I know this is the critical bit) it has the potential to improve the standard of living for Bangkok residents and these communities.

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Besides Bangkok really does need more parkland. If done well (and I know this is the critical bit) it has the potential to improve the standard of living for Bangkok residents and these communities.

I might be being too quick to judge but I wouldn't mind betting the real reason behind such a move is the high value real estate that would be released and it aint going to be turned into parks that's for sure.

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The residents of these impoverished areas may end up with a better standard of housing (Baan Ua Athorn for example) than where they are today.

I know anything would beat living in a slum, however, those "baan ooh athorn" style government houses are not that much of an improvement. :o

Speaking of pre-judging, I personally think that a great weight has recently come off the bloke's shoulders, and we may actually see some "governing", good or bad (probably bad :D ) from the guy.

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I'd be interested to know where relocating slums has worked before. My experience with public housing projects is that they aren't very successful and quickly evolve into a slum again.

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I'd be interested to know where relocating slums has worked before. My experience with public housing projects is that they aren't very successful and quickly evolve into a slum again.

Exactly, and those Toxin-inspired Ban Uua-Athorn housing estates, built by TRT crony companies on TRT crony-supplied over-valued land are rapidly going to become the Thai slums of the future. Many were already heading that way even before completion. Another Toxin project failure. Meanwhile, the poor moved from their city centre slums are disenfranchised and cowed into worse poverty once more. The best solution for slum-dwellers is to give them more rights, security and economic opportunities in situ. Moving them away is the worse solution, always inspired by ulterior motives by those in power. Now, as ever. :o

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A good idea. It will help Bangkok to be more vibrant. Redevelopment only leads to better areas from what I have seen. Im sure the slum residents will get a good deal also from the governement. Offcoarse we will get the same old negative grandpa rants from the anti-government people on this forum.... Some things will never change.... :o

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Leave central Bangkok? Is he kidding, these guys in the slums are sitting on prime real estate and they know it, not only that its their life, moving them out to the middle of no where just isn't going to happen without a fight.

As for ''Parks'' the only Parks Samak will build are Car Parks!!!

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A good idea. It will help Bangkok to be more vibrant. Redevelopment only leads to better areas from what I have seen. Im sure the slum residents will get a good deal also from the governement. Offcoarse we will get the same old negative grandpa rants from the anti-government people on this forum.... Some things will never change.... :D

Improving the lot of the poor is always a good idea, if it can be done fairly and provide equal opportunities.

People who live in slums in large cities like Bangkok, are usually very poor and the idea of moving them out into sanitized housing is all fine and dandy, but where will they work, how will they get to where they work at present. Assuming of course they have some form of job in the first place.

Redevelopment is a good idea as long as it's oriented towards improving housing for the less advantaged in society.

I live in Thanyaburi area, east of Rangsit, where there are several "ghost moo baans", mainly small townhouses, built in the 1990's before the "crash".

They are deserted because, unless you have a vehicle, there is absolutely nothing for poor people to do.

Bangkok is a vibrant city but shopping malls and Starbucks etc., don't make it so. It is vibrant because it has character. Do away with Khlong Tooey and what do you have? More high rises, condos and subsequently more vehicles.

The Din Daeng residents didn't want to move out of their accommodation because they like the area, even though it's probably high value real estate.

I'm not sure the government is in the business of giving good deals to the poor.

End of grandpa rant. :D:o

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There was a manifestation by students shown on tv this evening, they are protesting the building of the new parliament building and it was also mentioned that 1700 people were to be moved because of it, could this be the same slum Samak is taking about?

The students are asking a 2 year delay for the building of the parliament as their school will also be moving then, trying to avoid disturbances, dust and noise until then.

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Moving slum dwellers. Prime real estate vacated. Problem for PPP in the post Thaksin period is where is the funding coming from. Sure this makes sense and expect a bunch of mega-projects and probably some shrewd invetments from that economic advisory team that get to keep all their stocks and shares adn can use what they plan in their meetings to make a killing.

All makes sense now.

Guess the slum dwellers will have to return to some tin hut compound to get their work on a construction site back redeveloping the land they got kicked off of. Marvelous how the world works.

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There was a manifestation by students shown on tv this evening, they are protesting the building of the new parliament building and it was also mentioned that 1700 people were to be moved because of it, could this be the same slum Samak is taking about?

The students are asking a 2 year delay for the building of the parliament as their school will also be moving then, trying to avoid disturbances, dust and noise until then.

*correction.

These high school students will be relocated because of the construction of the new parliament, there is no plan for a new school.

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A good idea.

Im sure the slum residents will get a good deal also from the governement.

SLUM-180808.jpg

About 50 habitants of slums in Bangkok protested in front of the Government House on Monday morning, asking Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej to revise and withdraw his plan to relocate their slums to other areas outside the capital.

Bangkok Post / 18-08-08

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A good idea.

Im sure the slum residents will get a good deal also from the governement.

SLUM-180808.jpg

About 50 habitants of slums in Bangkok protested in front of the Government House on Monday morning, asking Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej to revise and withdraw his plan to relocate their slums to other areas outside the capital.

Bangkok Post / 18-08-08

Well not everyone is going to be happy with being relocated thats just natural. But if Bangkok wants to become a more dynamic and vibrant we need to redevelop these poorer down town areas. Just look at Singapore for example. It had a lot of slums in its down town areas a few years ago until the residents got relocated and redevelopment revitalised the areas. If you like to continue to see down town slums well it dosent say much about your views for making this a better place....

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A good idea.

Im sure the slum residents will get a good deal also from the governement.

SLUM-180808.jpg

About 50 habitants of slums in Bangkok protested in front of the Government House on Monday morning, asking Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej to revise and withdraw his plan to relocate their slums to other areas outside the capital.

Bangkok Post / 18-08-08

Well not everyone is going to be happy with being relocated thats just natural. But if Bangkok wants to become a more dynamic and vibrant we need to redevelop these poorer down town areas. Just look at Singapore for example. It had a lot of slums in its down town areas a few years ago until the residents got relocated and redevelopment revitalised the areas. If you like to continue to see down town slums well it dosent say much about your views for making this a better place....

Neither the red text nor the OP mention discontinuing slums.... just moving them.

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There was quite a revealing quote in a Nation article over the weekend that touched on the slum issue:

Thammasat University anthropologist and sociologist Pathomrerk Ketutat condemned the idea as "horrible" and said Samak had this mentality long ago, dating back to his time as Bangkok governor.

Pathomrerk said Samak's plan reflected a lack of understanding that the city needed cheap labour and poor workers helped the middle classes cope.

So that's all right then...just let the poor remain poor so the middle classes can "cope". There's never a tug-one's-forelock smiley when you need one...

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Yeah, buts its true, though crudely stated.

Cities can be ruined by being too successful and too rich.

For example, in San Francisco, teachers and firemen can't afford to live in the city they serve. People who work in low level jobs of all kinds can't afford to live there. That hurts cities. Should Thai people trust this PPP clown to treat these weakest of people humanely? Grow up. This idea smells. Sounds like a land/money grab for cronies for sure.

Edited by Jingthing
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just let the poor remain poor so the middle classes can "cope"

Where did you get the idea that Samak wants to lift them out of poverty?

He just think they are an eyesore and he wants to shift them away so as not to embarass the rich folks and tourists.

How they'll survive in the suburbs is not his problem, he's not going to employ them and pay them wages.

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just let the poor remain poor so the middle classes can "cope"

Where did you get the idea that Samak wants to lift them out of poverty?

He just think they are an eyesore and he wants to shift them away so as not to embarass the rich folks and tourists.

How they'll survive in the suburbs is not his problem, he's not going to employ them and pay them wages.

Eh? I didn't even comment on Samak's plan in my post, and I certainly never implied that he was going to lift them out of poverty.

It was about a university lecturer's almost feudal views regarding the poor - views probably shared by politicians across the spectrum including the present government.

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