Displaced Community Hopes to Reserve Land Along the Lat Phrao Canal

[Jacob Maslow]

The Bangkok Drainage and Sewerage Department is planning to widen the Lat Phrao Canal by 38 meters to improve drainage. Displaced community members along the canal are asking that a 12-meter-wide piece of land be reserved for them.

The Drainage and Sewerage Department says that 13,900 people and 3,023 houses will need to be moved in order to widen the canal. The secretary of INCA (Institute of New Model Communities Lands Administration) Bunyarat Thammathada stated that most of the locals who live along the canal earn a living by selling food on food trailers. If these community members are forced to move into National Housing Authority flats, they will need to find new forms of employment. After all, these flats do not have space for food trailers.

Those who live along the canal are prepared for the move, but are still waiting for the Drainage and Sewerage Department to declare the new shoreline.

INCA contacted the Treasury Department, who owns the land, and they agreed to allow displaced community members to rent the land if it were reserved – providing the Drainage and Sewerage Department accepted the proposal. INCA has also sent a letter to the Drainage and Sewerage Department and other related authorities, but has yet to receive a response.

Bunyarat Thammathada said that 90% of the community members would be willing to share the living space on the reserved land. So far, the Drainage and Sewerage Department has yet to talk to the people or survey the area.

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration is currently looking for a contractor to carry out the work along the canal. If they find a suitable professional, work could begin in as little as two months.

Although residents along the canal are prepared for the move, many are still apprehensive and anxious about the project. Thus far, none of the displaced residents have yet to be officially briefed on the situation.

-- 2015-03-30