Klong Toey market
violence part of a bigger problem
Port Authority's urban
redevelopment plans
By Jon Fernquest 
During
the last year Klong Toey
market
has been plagued by
violence.The violence peaked at the height of the Yellow Shirt - Red Shirt protests last year with a late night grenade launcher attack on the Yellow Shirt tent city at the main intersection next to the market.
I live down the street. The grenade launcher woke me up about 2am in the morning. Hmmm...better avoid the market late at night....
Then there was a grisly murder of market vendors by thugs allegedly sent by the company contracted to redevelop the market. Apparently, this is "eviction Klong Toey market style."
Then there was the mock cremation of the murdered market vendors in the middle of the busy intersection of Phra Ram IV (See photo on right).
Then finally the Yellow Shirts finally dismantled their tent city. Sigh of relief. Traffic flowing again. Safe to walk at night....
Then .. BANG!! .. last Friday a bomb attack.
Looks like the chaos is not over yet.
Here is today's article:
EDITORIAL
Port project needs rethink
22/08/2009The Port Authority of Thailand has never kept secret the fact that it would like to see the land it owns than simplyput to more productive use playing host to the capital's biggest slum community. Now it has gone a step further and drawn up a five-year plan to split the area into four prime commercial and office zones requiring an investment of at least 20 billion baht. But, admit the developers, some fine-tuning still needs to be done.
put X to more productive use - increase the
productivity of X
playing host to - provide a place for an event to happen
a slum, a slum community - an area of a city with low quality housing where poor people live (See Wikipedia)
gone a step further - done further work
a five-year plan - a plan with goals for the next five years
prime commercial and office real estate - the highest quality commercial and office real estate
prime commercial and office zones - areas of town where
fine-tuning - small changes
playing host to - provide a place for an event to happen
a slum, a slum community - an area of a city with low quality housing where poor people live (See Wikipedia)
gone a step further - done further work
a five-year plan - a plan with goals for the next five years
prime commercial and office real estate - the highest quality commercial and office real estate
prime commercial and office zones - areas of town where
fine-tuning - small changes
That is one way of putting it. Conflict resolution might be a better way because an abundance of such skills will be needed if there is to be a forced resettlement of the tens of thousands of people who live and work in the area. Then there is the certainty of a renewed showdown with the Klong Toey market vendors who are already incensed by the renovation efforts of a private concessionaire. That is a situation that should have been handled with a great deal more tact and diplomacy. Experience gained in the remodelling of other city markets should have taught the authorities that the velvet glove is more effective than the iron fist.
one way of putting it
- one way of explaining it
conflict resolution - ending a fight
abundance - a large amount of something
forced resettlement - moving a group of people from one place to another and forcing them to live there
renewed Y - started doing Y again
showdown - a fight (a decisive fight or battle over something)
decisive - when an event causes change, is a point of change
renewed showdown - fighting once again
Klong Toey market - one of the largest markets in Bangkok (on Phra IV road near Queen Sirikhit Exhibition Center)
vendors - people who sell things in a market
a concession - government permission to do a special activity
concessionaire - the owner of a concession
private concessionaire - a company that owns a concession (not the government)
incensed by Y - made angry by Y
renovation - completely repairing, improving, and rebuilding a building
incensed by the renovation efforts of a private concessionaire - made angry by the rebuilding of a private company
tact - being polite, taking care not to offend people
diplomacy - the management of relations between governments
handled with a great deal more tact and diplomacy -
remodelling - changing and rebuilding a building or a room
authorities - officials or organisation in charge, government
more effective - gets the job done better
with a velvet glove - gently, softly
with a iron fist - with force
conflict resolution - ending a fight
abundance - a large amount of something
forced resettlement - moving a group of people from one place to another and forcing them to live there
renewed Y - started doing Y again
showdown - a fight (a decisive fight or battle over something)
decisive - when an event causes change, is a point of change
renewed showdown - fighting once again
Klong Toey market - one of the largest markets in Bangkok (on Phra IV road near Queen Sirikhit Exhibition Center)
vendors - people who sell things in a market
a concession - government permission to do a special activity
concessionaire - the owner of a concession
private concessionaire - a company that owns a concession (not the government)
incensed by Y - made angry by Y
renovation - completely repairing, improving, and rebuilding a building
incensed by the renovation efforts of a private concessionaire - made angry by the rebuilding of a private company
tact - being polite, taking care not to offend people
diplomacy - the management of relations between governments
handled with a great deal more tact and diplomacy -
remodelling - changing and rebuilding a building or a room
authorities - officials or organisation in charge, government
more effective - gets the job done better
with a velvet glove - gently, softly
with a iron fist - with force
Klong Toey slum dwellers are used to threats of eviction. Although there has been a welcome upgrading in recent years, there are continual problems with regular water supplies, electricity and waste removal, sanitation, hygiene, child care, education, crime prevention and health services because they have no legal right to the land they occupy. They are not there out of choice. This has been going on for over 50 years and will continue until the Port Authority gives serious consideration to expanding low-cost housing on more of its ample land reserves to absorb the community.
slum dwellers -
people who live in a slum
eviction - legally removing people from the place they are living
threats of eviction - telling people that they will be evicted
upgrade - improve
a welcome upgrading - an improvement that people like a lot
regular water supplies - water that is always available (doesn't stop sometimes or dry up like a well in a drought)
waste removal - removing garbage
sanitation - the practice of keeping places clean and healthy (especially by providing a sewage removal and clean drinking water) (See Wikipedia)
hygiene - keeping your body and surroundings clean so that you are not infected with a disease
child care - a place that takes care of children during the day while their parents work
no legal right to the land they occupy -
gives serious consideration to X -think a lot about using or doing X
ample - enough
reserves - being held and saved for future use
ample land reserves - enough land being saved for future use
absorb the community - have the people in the community come and live there
eviction - legally removing people from the place they are living
threats of eviction - telling people that they will be evicted
upgrade - improve
a welcome upgrading - an improvement that people like a lot
regular water supplies - water that is always available (doesn't stop sometimes or dry up like a well in a drought)
waste removal - removing garbage
sanitation - the practice of keeping places clean and healthy (especially by providing a sewage removal and clean drinking water) (See Wikipedia)
hygiene - keeping your body and surroundings clean so that you are not infected with a disease
child care - a place that takes care of children during the day while their parents work
no legal right to the land they occupy -
gives serious consideration to X -think a lot about using or doing X
ample - enough
reserves - being held and saved for future use
ample land reserves - enough land being saved for future use
absorb the community - have the people in the community come and live there
Do that first and it will eventually pave the way for some of the big business developments it has in mind to improve the value of its assets. Right now its priorities are skewed. It is sheer folly to think it can turn the slum problem over to the Community Organisations Development Institute (CODI) and expect it to resettle so many people, probably far away from the area in which they work, in a relatively short space of time. Without proper planning and a suitable time frame, such an attempt would quickly come to grief. It would be reminiscent of the mass evictions and attempted resettlement of slum dwellers on the city's outskirts two to three decades ago. Those resettled could not find work deep in the suburbs or afford to spend hours in a long commute to their old jobs so they just abandoned their new locations and moved back to their old ones.
pave the way for Y -
make it easy for Y to happen
priorities - things in order of importance
skewed - not usual or normal
priorities are skewed - the things that are considered important are not usual or normal
folly - behaving foolishly
sheer folly - completely foolish
Community Organisations Development Institute (CODI) - a Thai government agency formed in
2000, runs Baan Mankong, the Thai government’sambitious national programme for upgrading and secure tenure (Read description)
Ban Mankong home-building and land-sharing projects - launched by the Thai government in January 2003, as part of its efforts to address the housing problems of the country’s poorest urban citizens. The program channels government funds, in the form of infrastructure subsidies and soft housing and land loans, directly to poor communities, which plan and carry out improvements to their housing, environment and basic services and manage the budget themselves (See website and 2008 progress report)
resettle (verb) - move people from one place to another to live
resettlement (noun) - the act of moving people from one place to another
a time frame - the length of time during which an event happens or develops (See glossary)
a suitable time frame - an appropriate length of time for a project or task
attempt would quickly come to grief - the attempt would fail quickly and cause anger and sadness
reminiscent of Y - reminds people of Y, makes people remember Y
mass evictions - removing large numbers of people from their homes
the city's outskirts - the edges of the city
suburbs - a small area in a city outside from the center of town
commute - traveling from home to work and back everyday
priorities - things in order of importance
skewed - not usual or normal
priorities are skewed - the things that are considered important are not usual or normal
folly - behaving foolishly
sheer folly - completely foolish
Community Organisations Development Institute (CODI) - a Thai government agency formed in
2000, runs Baan Mankong, the Thai government’sambitious national programme for upgrading and secure tenure (Read description)
Ban Mankong home-building and land-sharing projects - launched by the Thai government in January 2003, as part of its efforts to address the housing problems of the country’s poorest urban citizens. The program channels government funds, in the form of infrastructure subsidies and soft housing and land loans, directly to poor communities, which plan and carry out improvements to their housing, environment and basic services and manage the budget themselves (See website and 2008 progress report)
resettle (verb) - move people from one place to another to live
resettlement (noun) - the act of moving people from one place to another
a time frame - the length of time during which an event happens or develops (See glossary)
a suitable time frame - an appropriate length of time for a project or task
attempt would quickly come to grief - the attempt would fail quickly and cause anger and sadness
reminiscent of Y - reminds people of Y, makes people remember Y
mass evictions - removing large numbers of people from their homes
the city's outskirts - the edges of the city
suburbs - a small area in a city outside from the center of town
commute - traveling from home to work and back everyday
The underfunded CODI works through the respected Ban Mankong home-building and land-sharing projects to replace the slums and avoid forced relocations. But progress is slow. Its sister project is Ban Ua-arthorn which was initiated by the National Housing Authority and involves the private sector. These projects were touted as the solution to the shortage of affordable accommodation and, while there were some successes, Ban Ua-arthorn schemes gained notoriety as showpieces of corruption. This took the form of ill-fitting doors, roofs prone to blow away in the wind, holes and cracks in foundations, walls and ceilings, dangerous electrical outlets and all-round substandard construction. It can only be such low-quality, but not inexpensive, a matter of time beforepublic housing projects revert to slums again, completing a vicious circle. Ban Mankong projects, on the other hand, are community-based, better organised and hold out real promise for the future.
underfunded - do not
get enough money to operate
forced relocations - when people are forced to move to their home to another location
progress - work towards a goal
Ban Ua-arthorn - a project that gives money to companies to build housing for the poor, had a corruption problem, one of the populist policies of former prime minister Thaksin (See article on Samak trying to move people to these communities)
initiated by - started by
National Housing Authority (NHA) - a Thai government agency started in 1973 as a state enterprise, develops and provides low-income housing to Thais (See Wikipedia)
the private sector - all the businesses in the economy
X touted as Y - X is described as Y (in an effort to sell X to people)
notoriety - to become well-known for something bad
gained notoriety - became well-known for something bad
a showpiece - showed as the best of its type (impressive and admired)
showpieces of corruption - were the worst examples of corruption
ill-fitting doors - doors that do not fit the doorway (built incorrectly)
prone to Y - tendency to do Y
foundations - the concrete or bricks that a building or house is built on top of
electrical outlets, plugs - in a home or office where you plug electrical appliances
all-round - completely, every part and aspect
all-round substandard construction - badly built building (falls apart easily or even dangerous)
only a matter of time before - will happen for sure (but don't know when)
public housing projects - housing for the poor buillt by the government
revert to - go back to an older situation that is worse
a vicious circle - when things get worse and worse, each bad thing creating more bad things
have promise, hold out real promise - likely to succeed
migration patterns - how large numbers of people move from one place or country to another for work or for living
forced relocations - when people are forced to move to their home to another location
progress - work towards a goal
Ban Ua-arthorn - a project that gives money to companies to build housing for the poor, had a corruption problem, one of the populist policies of former prime minister Thaksin (See article on Samak trying to move people to these communities)
initiated by - started by
National Housing Authority (NHA) - a Thai government agency started in 1973 as a state enterprise, develops and provides low-income housing to Thais (See Wikipedia)
the private sector - all the businesses in the economy
X touted as Y - X is described as Y (in an effort to sell X to people)
notoriety - to become well-known for something bad
gained notoriety - became well-known for something bad
a showpiece - showed as the best of its type (impressive and admired)
showpieces of corruption - were the worst examples of corruption
ill-fitting doors - doors that do not fit the doorway (built incorrectly)
prone to Y - tendency to do Y
foundations - the concrete or bricks that a building or house is built on top of
electrical outlets, plugs - in a home or office where you plug electrical appliances
all-round - completely, every part and aspect
all-round substandard construction - badly built building (falls apart easily or even dangerous)
only a matter of time before - will happen for sure (but don't know when)
public housing projects - housing for the poor buillt by the government
revert to - go back to an older situation that is worse
a vicious circle - when things get worse and worse, each bad thing creating more bad things
have promise, hold out real promise - likely to succeed
migration patterns - how large numbers of people move from one place or country to another for work or for living
(Source: Bangkok Post, editorial, Port project needs rethink, 22/08/2009, link)
