Housing plan puts slum dwellers in charge

A helping hand: The Baan Mankong programme, launched in 2003, aims to help Thai slum dwellers get secure housing with subsidies and cheap loans for buying or leasing land. — Reuters

Phatsanee Phutkaew lost nearly everything she owned 10 years ago when her modest canalside home in Bangkok was damaged by Thailand’s worst floods in decades, forcing the 55-year-old slum dweller and her neighbours to evacuate to emergency shelters.

Having waited nearly three months before they could go home, Phatsanee and her husband then met with officials who offered the community a plan to build new houses at a safer location.