Rattanakosin Island, known as Old Town Bangkok, one of the most popular tourist destinations in Bangkok, has recently undergone massive landscape renovation in preparation for an upcoming royal cremation at Sanam Luang at the end of this year. The changes do not affect only the architecture around the site, but also those who live there, particularly homeless people.
Old Town Bangkok, especially around Sanam Luang, is well known as the home to dozens of homeless people. Recently, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), together with other state agencies, has accelerated its outreach campaign for the homeless in the area.
However, the way the operation was carried out has stirred uproar. Viral images on social media showed the participation of the police and military personnel. While the BMA described the operation as an effort to bring homeless people into the system and improve their quality of life, the participation of the police and military personnel raised suspicions of a crackdown aimed at clearing public spaces.
Images of the latest operation (Photos from the BMA)
For the homeless, the operation brought back painful memories. Around 10-20 years ago, similar operations, even more severe, were launched to force them into shelters. Some witnessed their friends being arrested and carried onto trucks. There have been no such cruel images this time; instead a homeless person was seen surrounded by 4-5 state officials.
Questions have been raised over the urgency of the operation together with scepticism over why the operation was carried out only in Rattanakosin Island.
Raising the quality of life for people in Rattanakosin Island?
Somporn Hanprom of the Human Settlement Foundation stated that including in the operation state officials other than those from the BMA and the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security (MSDSH) perpetuated stigmatisation of homeless people in society.
It implicitly conveys a message to the public that the homeless are a source of problems and that they have to be “managed.” This adds to the fears of homeless people.
A representative from the MSDSH Thapanee Sirisomboon, Director of the Bangkok Protection Centre for the Destitute, clarified that the actual name of the operation was "Raising the Quality of Life for People in Rattanakosin Island” and reiterated that it was not a crackdown.
The operation was launched as part of a measure to improve the landscape of Rattanakosin Island in order to make it more suitable to be one of Bangkok’s important tourist destination.
Thapanee reiterated that while maintaining order in public spaces was important, the operation’s ultimate goal was to help homeless people escape from homelessness and give them opportunities to reintegrate into society.
Homeless people were “encouraged” to go to prepared shelters. Most of them chose to go to a Baan Imjai shelter. She said the operation had brought around 100 homeless people into the system since it was launched, a number that was considered relatively low.
Baan Imjai, located at the Old Town’s Maen Sri intersection, was first established in 2012, but the BMA returned the property to its landlord, the Privy Purse Bureau (formerly the Crown Property Bureau), when the number of homeless people staying in the shelter was fewer than expected.
In 2024, the BMA under Governor Chadchart Sittipunt renewed the lease agreement with the landlord for another 30 years. In February, Baan Imjai reopened through collaboration between the BMA and a network of NGOs working with homeless people.
The new Baan Imjai can accommodate up to 200 people. Those who desire to stay at the shelter are required to participate in 7-day vocational training or financial literacy training, which makes them eligible to stay for up to two consecutive two months. Those who do not wish to attend the training have to register on a day-to-day basis.
However, the latest operation left Baan Imjai overcrowded, preventing some homeless people from getting a proper place to sleep. Some had to stay outside the building.
Pong, a homeless person living in the Ratchadamnoen Road area, was among those who registered to stay at Baan Imjai on a day-to-day basis since he did not want vocational training. He slept outside the building beside a large water tank. Pong had to bring his own mattress and pillow as none were provided.
Pong said that although conditions were no better than sleeping on the street, at least Baan Imjai offered food. Sleeping in public spaces put him at risk of being evicted by the military.
Baan Imjai
Uproar over lack of communication
The operation not only astonished netizens, but also the NGOs working closely with homeless people, as no one had been informed. They expressed scepticism about the urgency of the operation.
Atchara Sarawaree, Secretary-General of the Issarachon Foundation, which has worked with homeless people in the Ratchadamnoen area, revealed that the operation had never been discussed with NGOs. Atchara herself did not expect that she would witness 10-20 officers walking around each alley.
“There is no need to approach them. Simply forming a line is enough to make homeless people who are capable of getting up move away from the area out of fear,” said Atchara. She noted that NGOs have been working for years to encourage homeless people to enter into support systems, but this operation destroyed those efforts.
Atchara observed that the operation was unusual, because it appeared to have been carried out under orders from one agency, while other agencies were unaware of it. The Issarachon Foundation’s drop-in centre on Trok Sake was also removed, but other state agencies were allowed to set up tents to sell goods in the same area, while the Deputy Governor admitted that he was not informed of any order.
“On the first day, I thought terrorists had emerged on Trok Sake,” Atchara told Prachatai.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Bangkok Governor Sanon Wangsrangboon explained that maintaining order in Bangkok’s public spaces was the BMA’s responsibility. He acknowledged the concerns raised and also admitted that the period of time for the operation remained unclear, asserting that taking care of public spaces was part of the BMA’s job that must be carried out consistently.
He clarified that the operation did not intend to “manage” the homeless as people had been concerned. Sanon stated that there had recently been a high number of quarrels and fights, making the officials feel unsafe in patrols of just 2-3 people. This was the reason military personnel and police officers were involved.
However, the reason for the sudden launching of an operation focusing specifically and intensively in Rattanokosin Island was not clearly explained.
Homeless people need jobs
This operation aimed at encouraging the homeless to enter shelters where they are provided with a place to sleep and vocational training. That sounds pleasant, so what is the problem? Why are there so many people still living on the streets?
In Thailand, the homeless face stigmatisation from the general public. People often ask judgmental questions like “Why do the homeless continue to live on the streets when they are provided with a shelter?” But society may not realise that the procedures in shelters leave the homeless few ways out of homelessness.
Sittipon Chuprajong of the Mirror Foundation revealed that Baan Imjai does not in fact offer vocational training that helps homeless people to find employment. The homeless are aware of the fact, but those who wish to stay at Baan Imjai for two months must take the training, as it is a condition.
Sittipon recounted that there are 11 public shelters for the “destitute” across the country. The maximum capacity each shelter can accommodate is 300, but the actual number of residents reaches approximately 500.
In each shelter, residents include not only the homeless but also the elderly, people with disabilities, and those who have health conditions. Anyone classified as “destitute" may end up in the same public shelter, even if these different types of people need different forms of support. This makes shelters difficult to manage.
Sittipon said only around ten homeless people in each shelter manage to leave and secure decent jobs. Meanwhile, 80% of those in the 11 public shelters have mental health conditions requiring treatment, and they typically are long-term residents. Sittipon noted that homeless people with no health problems did not want to live with such patients.
The lack of proper programmes to help the homeless move toward independent living and the crowded conditions are the reasons why several homeless people prefer to remain on the streets.
Sittipon asserted that a shelter is not what homeless people need most. They need a decent job which provides them with an income so that they can access housing independently. This, he argued, was the way to help them maintain their sense of dignity.
Meanwhile, Somporn of the Human Settlement Foundation remarked that the best way to address homelessness was to give the homeless a clear route for moving forward and escaping it. This would be better than simply telling them that they have to stay at a shelter when they could not see realistic path to get out of homelessness.
Similar operations in the past have reached a dead end; this is the latest. For a short period of time, pushing the homeless out of public spaces may work. But unless Thailand provides effective support systems that enable people to escape homelessness, the proposed solution will not be sustainable. Thailand will continue to see more people, including even those who had once managed to escape homelessness, back on the streets.