Security of tenure and the way forward: The case of Samakee Pattana, Bangkok

By law, there are only two possibilities with regard to security of tenure, the legal or illegal occupation of land however, in reality for the urban poor there are a number of options between these two extremes. Even after obtaining lawful tenure arrangements, access to information, services and opportunities in the city remain a struggle for poor communities. Adding to this struggle by communities and within communities, are the ad hoc policy measures and approaches taken by government agencies, which range in this case from evictions to mass housing projects. There seems to be very little learning from past experiences and a resistance to accept possibly different solutions for the same problem, i.e. access to land and housing in the city. This paper examines the dynamics within the community and community based organisations that both strengthen and weaken the process of improving security of tenure for low-income communities in Bangkok, Thailand, by the mechanism termed land rental slums. It also draws lessons for the roles that NGOs and public sector agencies need to play when participating in the process of improving the tenure status and security of low-income communities.