Featured Entries
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The D.I.Y. Disaster Plan: How Informal Networks Battled Bangkok’s Worst Flood
When a devastating flood struck Bangkok in 2011, many citizens had only their informal networks to rely on. In the first Forefront of the Informal City Dialogues, Dustin Roasa reports on how those networks helped save lives — and the city itself.
Bangkok Entries
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Dispelling the Myth that “On Paper” Always Works Well on the Street
In his final post for the Informal City Dialogues, our writer in Bangkok returns to the site of his first blog post and finds traders ready to engage the city in a dialogue of their own.
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Striving for an Integrated Society That Looks Out for Its Most Vulnerable
Will Bangkok fracture or integrate, and how will its citizens fight for their rights? A summary of the futures scenarios created for Bangkok at the Informal City Dialogues workshops.
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Two Weeks in Photos
Our fortnightly roundup of photos from our bloggers. This week: Beer-brewing in Accra, juice-squeezing in Bangkok, slum-touring in Nairobi and water-hunting in Chennai.
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Vendors Squeeze a Profit Out of Office Workers Seeking Chemical-Free Juice
Western-style cartons of artificially flavored juice may pack the shelves of supermarkets in Bangkok, but the real stuff is still to be found on the streets.
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Two Weeks in Photos
Our fortnightly roundup of photos from our bloggers. This week: A mountaineer’s commute in Lima, urban gardening in Manila and a teachers’ strike in Nairobi.
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Bag by Bag, Janitors and Housekeepers Keep Bangkok’s Waste System Green
At the base of a pyramid that extends all the way up to a major global waste-export industry are hundreds of thousands of janitors and housekeepers, selling bottles and cans one kilo at a time.
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Two Weeks in Photos
From stolen electricity in Nairobi to blind masseuses in Manila, our fortnightly roundup of photos from our bloggers.
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A Plan to Recruit Community Lawyers to Represent Informal Workers
At Bangkok’s Innovation Workshop participants generated more than 20 ideas, but the one that emerged the winner could provide legal help for those who can’t afford it.
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Two Weeks in Photos
Our fortnightly roundup of photos from our bloggers, from a bustling harbor in Chennai to a traditional Thai massage in Bangkok.
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Bridging the Language Gap: Three Bangkok Stories Now Available in Thai
Read a Thai translation of our first long-form Forefront story for the Informal City Dialogues, and watch our documentary films exploring informal housing and street vending in Bangkok with Thai subtitles.
At A Glance
- 8.3 million population
- 30% population growth between 2000 and 2010
- 14.5 million population (metro area)
- 80,000 population of one of Bangkok’s largest slums (Klong Toey)
- 57% share of Thailand’s GDP generated by the informal economy
- (Statistics are estimates and compiled from multiple sources)
Notable Facts
- Thailand’s World Bank income categorization was upgraded in 2011 from a lower-middle income economy to an upper-middle income economy.
- Poverty in Thailand fell from 21 percent in the late 1990s to 8 percent in 2009. Only 12 percent of impoverished Thais live in urban areas.
- The number of registered vehicles in Bangkok rose from 600,000 in 1980 to 6.8 million today.
Resources
- Chulalongkorn University (grantee)
- Asian Coalition for Community Action
- Asian Coalition for Housing Rights
- Urban Research Plaza
With generous support from
