After almost eight decades succeeding the kingdom’s acceptance of its first British Resident in 1906, Brunei Darussalam became a fully independent nation in 1984. Before Bandar Brunei [Brunei Town] became the new capital, Kampong Ayer had its place. This changed during the British Residency period as part of the cumulative territorialization of Bruneian society. Furthermore, Bandar Brueni was renamed Bandar Seri Begawan in 1970.

Over the past four years, Kampung Peneleh, under the Southeast Asia Neighborhoods Network (SEANNET), was discovered as one of the significant ‘foodscapes’ of the city. Residents identified culinary traditions, such as kroket, bongko mentuk, and krupuk payus, as special characteristics and pride of the neighbourhood. This was also evident with the built environment, observed through the association of mobile food vendors with certain spaces, nodes of activities, and time of the day.

A nice outcome of the SEANNET network’s work was a collaboration between the Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City local PIs. Boonanan Natakun, PI of the Bangkok case study, gave a 2-hour lecture entitled “Low-income housing development in Thailand: Lessons learnt from site-and-service to participatory slum upgrading programs”, at the Vietnamese-German University (VGU) in Ho […]

by Boonanan Natakun In the 2018 report from SEANNET, Bangkok team, we illustrated what has happened in Nang Loeng, through three case studies about the Old Bangkok Neighbourhood’s development towards creative tourism: the Buffalo Field Festival (งานเต้นทุ่งสนามควาย), a community-based performing arts festival, and the “Mysterious” Physical Improvement Project of Sala Chalerm Thani. These two events […]

By Pijika Pumketkao-Lecourt In mid-December, with a map and a drawing board in hand, a group of Franco-Thai students walked through the calm shaded alleyways in Wua Lai neighbourhood. As part of the Spatial Investigation Workshop, they had been asked to conduct a survey on the living space of Wua Lai, to make sketches of […]

By Komson Teeraparbwong First Approach: Ban King-Kaew Roundtable Forum. “A Neighbourhood voice” Chairs were set in a circle, so that the “round-table forum” could be ready to receive our important guests. Many key persons who live in Wua-lai neighbourhood area came into the room and sat within the circle. Some were representing their area of […]