2.0 Introduction to the Three Sites

The selection of the three sites involved considerations of demographic profile, settlement density, accessibility, socio-economic conditions and public services. All three sites had been researched previously as part of TDS design studios. Participants of the summer school applied systems analysis to acquire a better insight into the neighborhoods and the dynamics deployed during the pandemic and operationalized their findings through systemic design of a multiple disease treatment center in each of the neighborhoods.

1. COVID-19 struck hard in the inner-city Ari neighborhood in Bangkok. The pandemic saw the establishment of the ZENDAI Foundation, a citizens’ group that mobilized the financial and logistic means to organize screening, transport to hospitals and isolation of mild infection cases from the poorer sections of the population. The isolation center was set up in a nursery school in the far end of a dead-end soi. It could provide temporary shelter to both male and female patients in separate wards.

2. The peri-urban informal community around the Parerai Temple in Bang Si Muang district of Nonthaburi Provincehandled the COVID-19 pandemic by collaborating with the monks of the temple, the district office and the Community Organization Development Institute (CODI) to organize screening, transport to the hospital and isolation of mild cases. The multi-purpose hall of the temple served as a focal point for all these activities.

3. During the pandemic, the rural community in the Northern part of Klong Sam in Pathum Thani Province was spared of infections because of their relative isolation and careful precautions. For the infections that occurred in the more urbanized areas further South along Khlong Sam and to the East of it, the district office organized screening and transport to the nearby hospitals. It also set up a temporary, purpose-built isolation facility in the vicinity.

1. Ari, Bangkok 2. Bang Si Muang, Nonthaburi 3. Khlong Sam, Pathumthani

Map and aerial photos from Google Maps