Publication Code: Y93L
by Marc Askew
Of the many changes occuring in contemporary Bangkok, the transformation of the old inner city must be considered as a major part of the process. The recent problems faced by the residents of Ban Khrua in the face of the Expressway Authority's determination to build a by-pass along Khlong Saen Saeb in inner Bangkok have shown to Bangkokians how the few remaining old "yarn" of the city are sacrificed to make way for urban "development". Most changes to neighbourhoods in the old city, however, have not been resisted in the same manner as Ban Khrua, because the character of the communities and the areas are somewhat different. Unfortunately at present it seems that it is only the academics who are concerned about the destruction of the old Bangkok neighbourhoods. Physical change, imposed not only by land development pressures but also infrastructure imperatives, will persist as Bangkok continues to grow, and particularly in the inner districts, where redevelopment will necessitate displacement of people and communities. The imperative of strategic planners is now to ensure that the city "delivers" the economic goods to the whole country, an objective which involves undoing the mistakes of the past, which, for a variety of reasons, both structural and historical, have combined to create a chronic lever of urban congestion, pollution and traffic grid-lock.
Much of the very oldest section of Bangkok with its legacy of an earlier urbanism, has been saved by pressures of destructive change by legislation aiming to conserve the physical fabric of the old city. In 1984 a ministerial decree imposed land-use controls on inner Rattanakosin, the area bounded by the first canal, as a response from pressures from professional groups to conserve the historical city. This was followed in 1987 with BMA regulations concerning building heights, building alterations and land uses in what was designated "Outer Rattanakosin", encompassing the area where commercial and trading activity was still prominant. This discussion is not about historical conservation policy as such; it is rather about the processes taking place within this older area of the city having a bearing upon the communities which still reside their. That the inner area of Bangkok is enhanced as a physical artefact by recent conservation regulations suggests something about changing values in Thai society in keeping something of the past in the wake of modernity. Such policies are not, however, necessarily going to ensure that communities in these areas can still persist. The inner city is chosen here to exemplify aspects of change in life and relationships in Bangkok. While the new suburbs and industrial estates on the fringes of the Bangkok Metropolitan Area reflect a new landscape of change, the inner districts have also been affected by the growth and transformation of Bangkok over the past forty years. This discussion focusses on the Banglamphu district as an example of the characteristics and changes occurring in the inner city. A closer view of the changes to old yarn of the inner city shows us something about the pattern of change that has been taking place in the urban community over the last 100 years, and suggests what is at stake if the trend of urban change continues.
December 1993