Sala Thammasop, a small community near a railway in Thawi Watthana district in the Thon Buri area, had become notorious for its squalid environment. Rubbish was almost everywhere -- along the railway, around the houses -- and even the nearby canal was inundated with all kinds of floating detritus, as well as leeches.
But this community is now on the path to transformation after joining the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA)'s "Healthy Space" campaign. City Hall launched the project in November with the goal of making filthy communities in 50 districts into livable, healthy spaces.
The project was inspired by research conducted at the Research Centre for Community Development of Siam University and is being funded by the Thai Health Promotion Foundation.
A number of communities in Phasi Charoen district volunteered at the outset of the university's research, and after a few years stories of their success inspired other areas with a desire to renew their urban environments to come forward too.
Researchers witnessed the positive impact that a collective effort to smarten up these communities had, and soon the BMA decided to adopt the project and widen it out to include many more untidy communities in the city
Announced earlier this year, Sala Thammasop became the first area to benefit from the BMA's official sponsorship of this programme in which all 50 districts of Bangkok are now required to improve at least one aspect of their environment in order to improve living conditions for their residents.
Asst Prof Kuntida Chancharoen, director of the Research Centre for Community Development at Siam University, said untidy communities are the result of various factors.
Poverty and a lack of financial means play a role, but the absence of a sense of ownership or belonging are a big factor too. Communities that have encroached on land owned by private or state agencies often lack motivation to take care of their environment, said Asst Prof Kuntida, who heads the project.
Sala Thammasop, which occupies land belonging to the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) is a good example of this. The research team is exploring ways to change the mindset of residents as regardless of who the land belongs to, they are still the people who have to live in the midst of the mess.
Researchers reached out to the community in order to court their ideas regarding potential avenues of development for the area.
One upshot of these discussions was the idea of a "big cleaning" activity in order to kick-start a collective sense of spirit and pride among the residents.
The first big cleaning took place on Nov 12. The BMA also invited outsiders such as soldiers from the 29th Infantry Regiment, police from a nearby station, inmates from Nonthaburi's central prison and several other volunteers to join the campaign.
It proved to be a great success in fostering cooperation among local stakeholders and residents, who are already showing great enthusiasm towards the next step of the plan which is to improve the layout of the area. According to the research team, this will involve dealing with waste that has accumulated in deserted buildings and under the many pole houses that residents live in.
Plans are also afoot to clean up a 4-rai marsh that is now full of weeds, but the research team are confident that there will be plenty of people willing to help tackle it given the success of the first stage of the process.
The biggest challenge, however, will be to change habits and attitudes towards dealing with waste.
"Of course, all of these problems will take time to resolve and for us to achieve a sustainable outcome because these behaviours are still very much ingrained in the people here," said Asst Prof Kuntida.
The Sala Thammasop community covers a stretch of 500m adjacent to a section of railway near Sala Thammasop station, said Surasak Kaesorn, president of the community.
The community is located about 100 metres from the train tracks, covers 120 rai of land and accommodates over 900 people in about 162 households. The back of the community is connected to Klong Khut Maha Sawat canal.
Sala Thammasop, a community near a railway in Thon Buri, is collaborating with the BMA to make its environment more liveable. Last month, the community started a big cleaning campaign and it is working to improve the landscape. (Photos by Pawat Laopaisarntaksin
Over a century old, the area used to be used for growing fruit and vegetables for sale at the local Yai Pang fresh market, also known as Talat Bon, that still exists today. The community, however, has only been recognised by the BMA since March 10, 1989, when it was formally registered with the authorities.
Mr Surasak said that longstanding residents took more pride in the upkeep of the neighbourhood whereas new tenants, who were often renting, saw less need to behave in a more sustainable, community-orientated manner.
"The entire community is a mess because of those few irresponsible tenants who still insist on dumping their household waste into the water," he said.
Worse still, since the 2011 flood, there has been a surge in the number of leeches in the local marsh, which has acted as a deterrent to those who used to maintain that little area in the past, added Mr Surasak.
Yet, the big cleaning activity last month and the plans to develop the landscape have stirred hope among the residents. The team and locals have begun giving out small poles with a waste basket on the end so people can easily deal with waste when they see it.
Big cleaning events are to become a regular fixture of community life and a number of campaigns have already begun to help educate residents, especially younger ones, on how they can live in a more environmentally friendly way.
"I am starting to dream of my community becoming trash-free with a nice environment, a park and bicycle lanes for visitors who will now hopefully come to visit us and buy some of the products sold by the residents," said Thitiwat Siriudomwat, a who lives in the area.
When this community is clean and tidy, Mr Thitiwat said he believed it has the potential to be one of the most peaceful places in the city as there are so few cars due it having no major roads passing through it. And with a clean, leech-free marsh, he said he and other locals harbour aspirations of bolstering the natural beauty of the area so that it might become a new choice for those visitors who love nature and support ecotourism.
New bicycle lanes will stretch for 10km from the Chim Phli-Wat Purunwat sluice gate and along the route will be signs with information about the history of the area dating back to the First World War, he said.
"Residents are now learning how to further develop local products such as souvenirs, food and beverages for sale to future visitors. This will bring them more income," said Mr Thitiwat.