Thai Breakthrough

Dear Friends,

Just to inform you that finally the Thai Government have approved 4 year
upgrading plan to be implemented in 200 cities during 2005-2008 targetting
to upgrade and develop community housing in 2000 communities reaching
300,000 families. It is a city-wide "Cities Without Slums" housing
development process by communities and municipalities and city development
agencies where communities will be the key actors and owners of the project
to plan and develop the whole upgrading and housing process collectively.
Thai Government will provide total subsidy of about 19,300 million Baht (470
million US$) to CODI for the program. CODI will provide housing loans to
communities from CODI revolving Fund and will link and try to transfer to
the Banks to take over community loans later on.

It is expected that this total subsidy by government (average about 1,650
US$ per unit which include infrastructure and all social economic
facilities, local and all central management and administrative cost, 2%
interest rate subsidy and all expense about capacity building, learning,
meetings, seminars, exposure trips,etc.,.) will share about 25-30% of total
investment cost in which communities will be responsible for about
60-65%(mostly for housing loans and labour contributions) and the local
authorities about 10%. This total investment is, in deed, believed to be
able to generate related economic activities of about 3-4 times.

To reach this huge scale in 4 year which could be amount to about half of
existing slums in the country, it is therefore, designed to work out at
city-wide process in which all the existing slums in the city will all be
included and work together with city authorities to survey, set up saving
groups, plan for upgrading, negotiate or search for alternative land
together, organize various city task forces to assist each other
communities, link with universities,etc. so that each city should be able to
come up with plan of upgrading covering all existing slums in the city
within a period of about 3 year for each city simultaneously. So all
related development actors in the city, particularly communities will all be
workers and participants and observers, learners, advisers to whole city
active upgrading activities. The holistic upgrading elements include
changing land tenure status for secure and collective lease or ownership,
replanning of existing community, housing improvement or reconstruction,
environment development such as family waste water treatment, community
recycle system, growing plants and garden, community facility building,
economic generation area or activities, community welfare system, house of
the elderly or very poor persons, etc.,. It is not mere physical upgrading
as such but whole lot of physical and social upgrading managed by community
people together.

Since 2003 in which first 10 upgrading projects was approved uptill July
2005, we have now working in about 130 cities/ districts in about 55
provinces (total 76 provinces in the country). A total number of 175
projects have been approved covering about 300 slum communities 21,500
families. It is very interesting to share with you that in this process of
city-wide and all key actors working together, we found that communities
under threat of eviction or squatters are always selected as priority for
upgrading and being negotiated for better land deal which amount to about
66%. This is probably the effective way to find solutions for communities
to be faced with eviction beforehand !!! It is also very interesting to
find that 77% of former insecure slum communities can stay in the same
location with improved tenure security either purchasing the existing land
or have long lease deal with better housing development either reblocking or
reconstruction or land-sharing. Only about 23% relocation and almost half
of the relocation move to the land nearby. So of all total upgrading
approved, only about 12.5% relocate to land further away from former slums
location. 82% of total have long term land security, the rest have short
term deal, with about 90% as collective ownership. I think the above
figures are very significant finding showing no problem at all for urban
poor communities to stay in the city where they have been with better status
and social physical improvement.

However, I will have harder work next since more money will always bring
more problems and surely new more problems I have not faced before. Thiis
nation-wide upgrading program have brought me so much more knowledge in the
past two years, however, they have also taken much of my energy and time. I
only hope that this work in Thailand will help contribute to the knowledge
and struggle we are all working in our countries. I will be glad to share
all these knowledge with you in whatever requested. I would also like to
assure you all that it is possible to upgrade or develop slums all over the
country if we have the strong will to do so with communities.

The day this nation-wide program was approved by the Cabinet on 2nd of this
month, there was also cabinet reshuffle in the evening of the same day and
the MInister and Deputy Priminister who strongly support this program were
transfered. So now, I have faced with totally new Minister and Deputy
Priminister in this program again. This is just to tell you that there will
never be an end to difficulties if you want to keep doing and changing
things. Sometimes, I think God is very kind to me to keep showing me to
develop more and more knowledge and patience to deal with more and more
difficulties.

So, this is just to share with you what I am upto here in Thailand so I hope
some friends could probably apologise me for being so bad not to be able to
participate in some of the event you kindly invited.

Also I would like to let you know that we are also planning big regional
meeting event in early October to link this Thai city-wide slum upgrading
process with Regional World Habitat Day and Regional meeting in which
Habitat Executive Director and probably Thai Priminister will be joining.
More information soon.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

With best wishes
Somsook

achr@loxinfo.co.th
_________________________________________________________________
Asian Coalition for Housing Rights
73 Soi Sonthiwattana 4, Ladprao Road, Soi 110, Bangkok 10310, THAILAND
Tel (66 2) 538-0919
Fax (66 2) 539-9950
e-mail: achr@loxinfo.co.th
website: www.achr.net