Hybrid forms of living: Bangrakam, Phitsanuloke, Thailand

Abstract

Bangrakam is one of the nine districts of Phitsanulok province, which is located in the lower north region of Thailand, 377 km from Bangkok. The district is located in the southwest of Phitsanulok, or 17 km from the city center. Bangrakam is a small town settled on the Yom River and is wholly located in the Yom River basin. The central part of Bangrakam is dominated by the reservoir, resulting in inundation for a few months every year during the rainy season. Interestingly, flooding has surprisingly not been seen as a problem for many or most Bangrakam dwellers. Amazingly, people have adjusted their houses and livelihood to fit or coexist with water in friendly ways. During the flooding season people go fishing and gain a lot of income from fishery products. Hybrid ways of living make Bangrakam a unique cultural landscape. Wet architecture, water-based domestic space, wet cultural landscape, water-based livelihoods, and other water-based elements are evidence illustrating how the residents live in harmony with water and survive flooding in more friendly ways. This article suggests that learning from the Bangrakam case can remind Thais to be concerned with and understand their own indigenous wisdoms more. More specifically, without appropriate adaptability, particularly in water land use planning and aquatic zone management, it will be far more difficult to survive the future in which water dramatically dominates our planet. © 2012 WIT Press.