Thailand is the only country in Southeast Asia never to have been colonized due to the foresight of the Kings of the Chakri Dynasty. As a result of Thailand's history of independence, western urban planners had no direct effect of the planning of Bangkok. The result is an interesting mix of traditional and modern, Thai and Western, a unique flavor of the City of Angels.
Land Use
Land ownership in the city is dominated by the crown, government and wats, (or temples), but the absence of land use regulations is primarily due to the Thai tradition that all people who live on a piece of land, are entitled to the ownership of that land and are also entitled to do with their land what they choose. Zoning regulations, although present, are not enforced which has led to "helter skelter" development.
In the center of the city there are large amounts of unused land. This is uncommon in major cities, but in Bangkok it is evidence of the lack of land-use controls and the absence of penalties for speculative holdings.
The resulting mix of land use creates serious conflicts
as factories, slums, shops, schools, hotels, wats, restaurants, warehouses,
middle and upper income residences all exist side by side. One of the biggest
problems with such a mix of land use is the increased difficulty and cost
in providing basic urban services such as water or sewage.
One governmental land control is an act dating from 1933 called the Fire Damaged Area Act 2476. This act states that when an area is destroyed by fire, the government can control plans for reconstruction. It is through acts like these that the government has slowly improved their control of land use in order to make the organization of the city ideal for accessibility.
Public Space
Within Bangkok, less than 400 acres of public parks, playgrounds and gardens has been reserved for public use. A few of these include Lumpini Park, Pramane Ground and the Dusit Zoo. A new improvement on the park space within Bangkok was developed in 1995 when the Science, Technology and Environment Ministry gave the Green Thumb Co., and the Landscape Planning Co. a 119 million baht contract to design and develop 76 rai from an orchard area into a public park. The park will serve the recreational needs of Bangkok and its surrounding areas as well as conserve the existing ecological system.
Another form of public space exists in the form of wats, or Buddhist temples. Wats own substantial land space within the city. They are traditional nodes and veins of both spatial and social organization of Thai society. They provide integrity and coherence to settlement patterns and social life. Wats are not simply a place to worship. A wat is the center of the community, as it not only is a place for monks to live and study, it also includes schools, libraries and sometimes the homes of lay people.
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