Bangkok community asks the government to develop without leaving the poor behind

Bangkok, Bangkok communities do not obstruct the government from organizing the rails and building a railway connecting 3 airports, requesting development without leaving the poor behind. From the case where the Cabinet has approved the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security (MSDHS) through the Community Organizations Development Institute (Public Organization) or POC, in collaboration with the State Railway of Thailand (SRT), to implement a project to develop low-income housing in communities affected by the development of the rail system, covering 35 provinces, 300 communities, and 27,084 households, to be implemented over a period of 5 years (2023-2027) in all 5 regions: the Northeast, the North, the South, the Bangkok Metropolitan Region, the East, the Central, and the West. Currently, the Community Organizations Development Agency (COD) has visited the area to understand the villagers and surveyed the target households affected by the incident, together with the community organization netwo rk, to submit a list of communities that wish to rent land to the State Railway of Thailand, totaling 13,190 households. It is expected that by 2024, the list of affected households will be completed, reaching the target of 27,084 households. Mr. Chaow Kerd-aree, leader of the Boon Rom Sai community in Phaya Thai sub-district, Ratchathewi district, Bangkok, one of the communities affected by the development of the high-speed rail linking 3 airports, revealed that the villagers did not obstruct the government's development, but we wanted them to see that infrastructure development must go hand in hand with improving the quality of life of the villagers by allowing them to participate in projects that affect the community. Currently, the Boon Rom Sai community has over 100 households, all of whom have been affected by the construction of the high-speed rail linking 3 airports. In order to develop the transportation infrastructure system, we have to reclaim the land from the people who have encroached and built houses there for over 60 years. These people are from other provinces who come to the city to find opportunities to work in a variety of occupations, such as trading, general labor, sewing, and motorcycle taxi drivers. 'Villagers don't need smart cities. Today, we need fair cities so that people of all classes can live together. Because we are often branded as intruders, I want people to see us as 'city bearers' who earn a daily living, from motorcycle taxi drivers to general laborers, coffee and drinking water vendors, grilled meatball vendors, and rice with curry. Our occupations meet the needs of people working in big cities, helping reduce the cost of living so that they can buy good, cheap products,' said Mr. Chaow. The villagers have already submitted a request to the Ministry of Transport and SRT that we want to live legally, requesting a 10% land area from SRT in the Bueng Makkasan area, which is almost 500 rai, to let the villagers rent at an affordable price and build houses, including having SRT make a statement to the court to stop the court order to prevent some villagers from being trespassers. The said demand has been responded to by the government. However, we still need to follow up on the demand periodically until all the villagers have new houses and stable and clear housing. Mrs. Jiraporn Phumpanya, President of the Railway Community Behind Decha Hospital in Phaya Thai, said that the railway community behind Decha Hospital has more than 87 households, 57 of whom are members of the project's savings group. However, some members later resigned because some disagreed with the project. The community wanted to wait for the demolition fee from the SRT first. Some agreed because they saw that the project would truly benefit the villagers, helping the villagers along the railway to have a legal place to live, a place to earn a living, and a place to sell things to support their families. Today, the villagers have seen the house plans and have rented land from the SRT, which has been allocated to th e Bueng Makkasan area. It is expected that in 2567, a new house will be built on the land. However, if we did not have the PDC, the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, to act as a central agency to coordinate assistance, we would not have houses that are coming to us anytime soon. "If we are able to move to a new leased land by Makkasan Lake, we would like the relevant agencies to establish a community because establishing a community will allow the villagers to receive assistance from many agencies, whether it be the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration or the government," said Ms. Jiraporn. Source: Thai News Agency