Participation - From the Bottom to the Top

ACHR’s Habitat Day / week was an interactive extravaganza with participants including among others - Thailand’s Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Ministers and National Ministers, Director of UN-HABITAT, and the head of UN ESCAP.

The central focus was Thailand’s city wide upgrading process in 220 cities. 10,000 people filled Bangkok’s Suan Luang ( park) to listen to speeches by the Thai PM and the UN Habitat Director – against the backdrop of 9 model houses especially constructed and designed by slum dwellers and exhibitions from the Thai networks from all over the country.

Joining them were over 150 international guests comprising teams of community leaders, NGOs, government and media representatives from more than 15 countries.
This was Day 1 !

The rain held off and thousands of people from Thai community networks bussed to Suan Luam park in Bangkok ( near the King's palace for a national process of people friendly housing and exhibitions.

Young architects followed community advisers to design and build affordable model houses . 19 were built to scale on the site for peopel to inspect. The winning design was the mud-brick house below.

Prizes were awarded to community good practices throughout Thailand.

Governor of Phnom Penh City with staff and community rep.s

Fr Jorge meets an old friend

UN Heads from Fukuoka, Nairobi and Bangkok

Awards for savings / housing ....

The Thai Prime Minister and the Exec Dir of UN-HABITAT Anna Tibaijuka

Prime Minister Taksin takes the stage

Day 2 saw a packed UN-ESCAP hall where hundreds of (for a change) “suit-less” community representatives along with representatives from governments, NGOs and UN agencies participated with speeches, panel discussions and presentations on the people-centered slum upgrading activities highlighted by Thailand’s Bann Mankong (Secure Tenure) process.

Day 3 – 4 : International teams from Asia and Africa took to the field to see first hand what Bann Mankong is about – seeing is believing – Communities in 10 cities in Thailand – including Chiangmai, Bangkok Utaradit, Ayuthaya, etc hosted groups from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Japan, India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Philippines, Nepal and South Africa – the latter also invited their Minister for Housing. UNDP / UN-HABIT also collaborated with ACHR / CODI and Thailand’s tsunami network to bring tsunami survivors from Bande Aceh, Sri Lanka and India to Phang-nga province for 2 days of intense interaction with Thailand’s tsunami affected communities.

Day 5 – all teams returned to Bangkok to discuss their learnings together.

Day 6 – many remained in Bangkok for a special annual meeting of ACHR to review past activities and plan for the future.

Participation - From the Bottom to the Top ACHR’s Habitat Day / week was an interactive extravaganza with participants including among others - Thailand’s Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Ministers and National Ministers, Director of UN-HABITAT, and the head of UN ESCAP. The central focus was Thailand’s city wide upgrading process in 220 cities. 10,000 people filled Bangkok’s Suan Luang ( park) to listen to speeches by the Thai PM and the UN Habitat Director – against the backdrop of 9 model houses especially constructed and designed by slum dwellers and exhibitions from the Thai networks from all over the country. Joining them were over 150 international guests comprising teams of community leaders, NGOs, government and media representatives from more than 15 countries. This was Day 1 !

The rain held off and thousands of people from Thai community networks bussed to Suan Luam park in Bangkok ( near the King's palace for a national process of people friendly housing and exhibitions.


Young architects followed community advisers to design and build affordable model houses . 19 were built to scale on the site for peopel to inspect. The winning design was the mud-brick house below.



Prizes were awarded to community good practices throughout Thailand.





Governor of Phnom Penh City with staff and community rep.s	Fr Jorge meets an old friend	UN Heads from Fukuoka, Nairobi and Bangkok

Awards for savings / housing ....	The Thai Prime Minister and the Exec Dir of UN-HABITAT Anna Tibaijuka	Prime Minister Taksin takes the stage

Day 2 saw a packed UN-ESCAP hall where hundreds of (for a change) “suit-less” community representatives along with representatives from governments, NGOs and UN agencies participated with speeches, panel discussions and presentations on the people-centered slum upgrading activities highlighted by Thailand’s Bann Mankong (Secure Tenure) process.
Day 3 – 4 : International teams from Asia and Africa took to the field to see first hand what Bann Mankong is about – seeing is believing – Communities in 10 cities in Thailand – including Chiangmai, Bangkok Utaradit, Ayuthaya, etc hosted groups from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Japan, India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Philippines, Nepal and South Africa – the latter also invited their Minister for Housing. UNDP / UN-HABIT also collaborated with ACHR / CODI and Thailand’s tsunami network to bring tsunami survivors from Bande Aceh, Sri Lanka and India to Phang-nga province for 2 days of intense interaction with Thailand’s tsunami affected communities.
Day 5 – all teams returned to Bangkok to discuss their learnings together.
Day 6 – many remained in Bangkok for a special annual meeting of ACHR to review past activities and plan for the future.