Bangkok has no single, easily identifiable centre. Instead, numerous districts are centres in themselves, each unified by common features rooted either in ethnic character or a specific function or business. Thus Ratchadamnoen Avenue and its environs remain the primary centre for government ministries and international agencies, while there is a major concentration of commerce in Chinatown. Silom Road has become the main banking and financial district, and the Sukhumwit Road area is predominantly a middleclass residential area.
Outlying residential districts, meanwhile, continue to expand as more housing estates and shopping complexes are built to accommodate both the flow of migrants converging on the capital from upcountry and the new generation of young married couples who are increasingly leaving their parentsΓÇÖ homes for places of their own. Heavy industry, too, is concentrated on the outer fringes of the city, with industrial parks springing up along major highways leading out into the countryside. To facilitate communication between the outer suburbs and downtown areas, an elevated expressway system has been built, as well as a ring road to allow through traffic to bypass the city centre.
Older Bangkok residents live in separate, private houses, located either in high-densty neghbourhood or,increasingly rare, in relatively spacious compounds in long-established areas like Dusit and Bangkapi. Rising land values, however, are producing new housing concepts, especially in the more congested inner city. Though Western-style apartment buildings and condominiums are inhabited mostly by foreigners, more and more Thais are moving into ΓÇ£town houses,ΓÇ¥ projects in which they own the actual land and building but share a common wall with their neighbors. Hundreds of these projects have been constructed in the city, some consisting of several dozen units on a piece of land that once contained a single dwelling.
The biggest residential boom in the early 1990s was in condominium construction. By the end of the decade, there were more than 250 such projects, mostly concentrated on Sukhumwit and Rachadapisek Roads and along the Chao Phraya River. Though the majority of Thais are unfamiliar with the anonymity of condominium life, many have been forced into it by a desire to escape traffic jams and be closer to their places of work.
Throughout Bangkok, lining main roads and side streets, are innumerable two, three, and fourstorey shophouses which contain specialty shops, restaurants, or small factories that are generally family concerns. Workers and family are commonly housed on the upper floors. Such dwellings rarely have recreational space or gardens, though imaginative roof-top plantings can be glimpsed on some. Automobiles are generally parked inside on the ground floor and children play on the sidewalks outside.
Poorer people often live in single-storey houses made of scrap lumber, concentrated around the port area and in certain suburbs. Government public housing generally takes the form of low-rise blocks of simple flats located throughout the city.
The rapid growth of Bangkok has severely strained its facilities and led to a number of serious problems. The city now has over a million registered limited road surface, traffic congestion is heavy in central areas. Moreover, some parts of the city are sinking due to the pumping of water from artesian wells to supply suburban projects and drainage is inadequate in others; both have resulted in periodic flooding during the rainy season. Elaborate plans are being made to relieve these problems. The first section of an elevated system of rapid of 1999 and an underground system is being constructed; extensive flood-control projects are also underway.
BangkokΓÇÖs population is predominantly young. Over half the residents are under 30. Numerous new schools, both public and private, have emerged to meet the needs of this high concentration of young people as well as two ΓÇ£openΓÇ¥ universities for those who cannot be accommodated by the older institutions
of higher learning. The young also influence the life of the capital in other ways ΓÇô most of the cityΓÇÖs shopping centres are youth-oriented as are its entertainment facilities.
The cityΓÇÖs cultural life is greatly enhanced by its minority communities. Chinese and Indians account for nearly 10 percent of the capitalΓÇÖs population and contribute to its variety of cuisines and festivals, while Japanese and Asians from neighbouring countries also figure prominently in the cityΓÇÖs cosmopolita atmosphere.
Western influence has also been significant in creating a taste for new fashions and new life-styles, as reflected in such things as golf and tennis, delicatessens and boutiques, music and drama, architecture and interior decoration. Fast foods from the West, too, like hamburgers and pizzas, have become popular with young and old alike.
Leisure in the City
The stress of city life makes leisure activities vital, and weekends find the people of Bangkok dedicated to having a good time. Sometimes there are temple fairs featuring food and traditional forms of entertainment like the ever-popular folk opera (likay). Sporting events draw large crowds, whether they are of purely local interest or involve foreign football teams, boxers, or gymnasts. Several museums, a planetarium, a zoo, art galleries, and a cultural centre can be visited for instruction as well as relaxation. There are dozens of modern, air-conditioned cinemas throughout Bangkok, most of them showing Thai and Western movies. The most popular local productions are melodramas with equal measures of comedy, romance, and epic adventure.
Several large amusement parks are located on the cityΓÇÖs outskirts, with carousels, Ferris wheels, roller coasters, shooting galleries, and ice cream stalls to keep young visitors cheerfully occupied for hours. Lumpini Park, in the heart of Bangkok, is crowded on weekends with football players and strollers, as well as joggers and others in search of physical fitness. Chatuchak Park is the site of the famous Weekend Market featuring several acres of stalls selling a remarkable assortment of goods: household pets, every conceivable kind of fresh fruit, vegetables, and spices, Buddha amulets, handicrafts, ornamental plants, secondhand books and records, and probably, if one is persistent, the proverbial kitchen sink. Rama IX Park, presented to the city on the occasion of His Majesty King Bhumibol AdulyadejΓÇÖs 60th birthday is another popular place to escape the cityΓÇÖs clamour; it also features a pavilion with displays of the KingΓÇÖs life and interests.
Bangkok boasts some of the most varied nightlife in Asia. Visiting ballet, operatic, and folk dance troupes from Europe, the U.S., and various Asian countries frequently appear, and film festivals are held by foreign cultural organizations like the Alliance Francaise, the Goethe Institute, and the British Council. Patrons of nightclubs and supperclubs, many of them in the international as well as local performers. Discotheques with the latest gadgetry flash and throb to the beat of music played at top volume, while numerous clubs specialize in jazz or folk music.
BangkokΓÇÖs cosmopolitan flavour is particularly evident in the vast variety of foods offered by its countless restaurants. Diners in the city have a choice of French, Italian, Scandinavian, German, Japanese, Middle Eastern, Swiss, English, Mexican, Korean, Indian, Vietnamese, Burmese, and American fast-food outlets, as well of course as superb Chinese and Thai cuisine.
Although Bangkok abounds in markets, shops, and department stores selling every possible kind of merchandise, those who prefer to spend the day at home in the cityΓÇÖs residential lanes can buy what they need from itinerant vendors who bring necessities right to the doorstep, selling charcoal (for cooking), fruit, ice cream, noodle dishes, grilled chicken, handmade brooms, pots and pans, and countless other items.
Urban Values
Buddhism is at the centre of the Thai view of life and forms the foundation of most attitudes, in the city as well as in the village. But just as even the toughest material will change its shape under pressure, Buddhism has undergone certain alterations due to the stress of BangkokΓÇÖs fast-paced urban life style.
In the village the wat is the centre of social as well as religious life. BangkokΓÇÖs monasteries today inevitably play less of a social role and are normally visited only for religious observances or for one of the festivals scattered throughout the Buddhist year. Accessibility is the main problem; in the village the wat is generally just a short walk away, while in the city a visit often entails a long hot trip in heavy traffic. Therefore, many Bangkok homes have a room set aside for family Buddha images and a small altar. This little private sanctuary serves as a place for prayers and meditation in the morning and evening ΓÇô daily rituals that in a village would be more customarily performed at the wat.
Urban surroundings also rob many monasteries of the tranquil atmosphere which characterizes their rural counterparts. Nevertheless, monks continue to practise their meditation in them, seemingly undisturbed by the bustling life outside, just as they go out each morning to collect food offerings from city dwellers as anxious to make merit as villagers. Many Bangkok residents also go to them to study meditation during their time off from work.
Formerly, everyday life was highly structured and circumscribed by Brahmanic ritualistic taboos, and some of these still linger in modern society. Wednesday, for example, was believed to be an inappropriate day on which to cut hair and, accordingly, some Bangkok barber shops close on that day.
Astrology also retains its ancient influence and is used by many people to determine auspicious dates for major undertakings. Buddhist monks, Brahmans, and professional astrologers cast horoscopes according to which the day and hour to embark on a trip are decided. Purchasing land, starting a new business, or opening a shop are also often subject to an astrologerΓÇÖs calculations, and few couples would agree to be married without first determining the suitability of their union and the most auspicious day and minute for the ceremony.
Traditional Thai life-styles, which survive virtually intact in upcountry villages, have undergone extensive reshaping under the pressure of urban demands. Family ties in the city, for example, are not as pervasive as in the village, and young married couples often set up housekeeping on their own. Unmarried youths also have much more freedom in their daily life.
Modernization has greatly expanded the range of employment opportunities open to people migrating to the city. Only a few decades ago, virtually the only acceptable course available to a newly-arrived girl from the countryside was to take a position as a domestic servant. Now she may prefer a job in one of the light industries ΓÇô sorting transistors, assembling pocket calculators, or working in one of BangkokΓÇÖs huge textile plants. An incidental effect of this development has been the introduction of an increasing number of labour-saving electrical appliances into middle- and upper-class homes. Once considered a wasteful extravagance, washing machines, vacuum cleaners, and microwave ovens are now common household items available in all department stores.
Despite all the apparent changes, however, traditional Thai values are still strong beneath the surface of urban life, even though they may be all but invisible to an outsider. This is a reflection of the fact that the overwhelming majority of city dwellers have come from village backgrounds and also of the potent strength of the Thai cultural heritage, which over the centuries has so often demonstrated its ability to bend without breaking.
Social Welfare
Origins of Organized Social Welfare
As elsewhere in the world, the history of social welfare in Thailand can be traced back over the centuries in the form of charity or humanitarian concern, deeply rooted in the Buddhist philosophy. This is evidenced by the fact that Thai people never fail to help one another in time of distress.
Buddhist monasteries have played a prominent role in the development of social welfare in Thailand. This was evident in a wide variety of areas, particularly in education, vocational training, employment, and rehabilitation, long before social welfare was officially established.
The family also plays an important role in creating an individual framework of social welfare. While babies and young children are generally cared for by grandparents or other older members of the family, it is customary for Thais to take good care of the elderly in their families. The concept of gratitude is deeply ingrained from early childhood and generosity is also an underlying national characteristic that results in a willingness to help those in need. This was witnessed in ThailandΓÇÖs efforts to shoulder the burden of the numerous refugees who came to the country as a result of the fighting in Indochina.
However, it was not until 1883 that the first social welfare organization, initiative to help wounded soldiers. During the previous year, the first orphanage had also been set up. In 1910, one of the leading private welfare agencies, the Poh Teck Tung Foundation, was established. The Department of Public Welfare was officially established in 1940.
Thereafter a number of private social welfare organizations, taking the form of associations, foundations, groups, and organizations, flourished in response to the increasing needs of the people. In 1942 the National Culture Act was enacted to control and supervise such agencies. The significance of social welfare has been increasingly recognized since then through new legislation and constitutes an integral part of the national development policy.
Existing Social Welfare Programmes
The wide array of social welfare activities in Thailand falls under the jurisdiction of government departments, state enterprises, and local self government bodies. Apart from these, non-governmental organizations not only participate actively in the provision of social welfare services to the people but also take the initiative in developing new services.
According to the Bureaucratic Reform of Thailand in 2002, the Department of Social Development and Welfare has been newly established as the principal governmental agency in providing social welfare services and assistance for the disadvantaged, needy people, the destitute, and people with social problems. Services provided are in forms of remedial, rehabilitative and developmental models. Additionally, institutional care, communities organization promotion and referral to other concerned agencies are also provided with regards to encouraging target groups to have self-reliance and dignity.Non-governmental social welfare organizations (NGOs) play a supportive role to the governmental organizations. It is estimated that there are over 6,000 NGOs in the country, with operations ranging from rural and slum development to primary health care and the development of women and children. Major coordinating bodies for NGOs are the National Council on Social Welfare under the royal patronage of His Majesty the King and the National Council of Women of Thailand under the royal patronage of Her Majesty the Queen. Both governmental and non-governmental organizations follow the same precept, which is ΓÇ£to help people to stand on their own feetΓÇ¥.
The Role of Women in Thai Society
Thai women have traditionally been responsible for far more than management of the household. They worked alongside the men in the rice fields, took an active part in family decisions, and occasionally helped defend the country in times of warfare. role in modern factories and business
According to a survey made by the National Statistical Office in 2002, out of 34.9 million Thais aged above 15 years old in the labour force, 15.6 million (44.9%) were females doing the same sort of work as their male counterparts. Of these most were in the agricultural sector, while the rest were in manufacturing areas. In many of the leading export industries such as gems and jewelry, textiles and garments, electrical and electronic products, and agro-industrial foods, it was reported that women workers outnumbered men four to one. Women are also prominent in the tourism industry, education, banking, and health and social services.
Thai women were among the first in Asia to acquire equal rights under the constitution. They serve at almost every level of the government, from working in various ministries to holding cabinet posts, and in 1993 the first woman became governor of a province.
Although problems still confront Thai women who work ΓÇô inequality to men in some job opportunities and lack of security in industrial work are only two ΓÇô their importance in the economic and social life of the country cannot be ignored.
