Sense of Onnut 80

Sense of Onnut

Sense of place describes our relationship with places, expressed in different dimensions of human life from emotions, biographies, imagination, stories, and personal experiences. (Basso, 1996)

I started this study from the area where I live, Onnut 80. I have lived in the Onnut area since I was born but I had never known the area outside my home, its history, people, house styles, neighbors, nor the majority of occupation in the community. So when I started to study the sense of place theory, I started to get a better understanding of my place.

I hope that this book will inspire you to look back at the area where you live, perhaps this will help you to appreciate your areas a little bit more.

Spending most of the time at home during the pandemic shut down, I was bored. I do the same daily routine in the same place.

At that time, the farthest place I wandered out was the guard house located in front of my gated community. I thought this area had nothing and it was so boring.

The first person whom I met was my neighbor. I talked to her about the reason we moved into this place. She told me that she also spent most of her time living at home. She confirmed that there was nothing interesting outside the village.

I started talking to my village security guard. I asked him about his lifestyle. I have found that he does not live here. He is not a local! But why does he know the area better than me?

I found Bus parking lot for Po-Or 11. I just noticed that there are buses going in and out of the alley all day.

From a person who had never looked outside my home space, I started to explore things around.

The first thing I recognized is the vibrant color of the building in this area from super blue, bright orange, to very green.

This apartment decorated their area with potted plants. The combination of green color from the plants and the blue paint of the apartment makes this place look more friendly.

There is this little post office box for the building No. 7/66 hung along the potted plants. It blends well with the plants. What struck me was that there is only one post office box for the whole apartment? Isn’t this odd?

Perhaps there are not many letters for people who live here. But who are they? Why don’t they have many letters or parcels? I do want to know more.

Then, I found out that there is a Burmese community in the area. There are many Burmese language signs around.

This sign written in Burmese typography informs anyone who wants to come in to wear a mask. It says “No mask, no entry”.

Another thing that made me realize that there is a Burmese community in the area is the Burmese Friday market selling imported goods from Myanmar every Friday, starting from 5 o’clock.

I saw that people started to come to shop here after their working hours.

I explored the alley nooks and saw a bag of limes hanging in front of a door.

I asked around and learned that the Burmese believe that hanging a bag of limes in front of a child’s room will help prevent a child from crying.

The next thing I explored is food. I found that this area is filled with street food. They are in many forms, from cars to carts. Some are set up permanently while some are temporary.

By talking with people who own the street food vendors and their customers,

I realized that the locals are kind and friendly.

Here are a variety of street foods in Onnut 80, which is only 600 meters away from the gated community where I live.

Here is a fruit stall that sell seasonal fruits.

We can also buy vegetables and fruits from the Lotus supermarket located just in the front of Onnut 80.

Then, I became even more curious about the area. There are 7 junctions in Onnut 80. My gated community is located in junction 5. Only three of them have been numbered, junction 1, 3, and 5.

These are not labeled correctly in google map.

I started exploring junction 1. I found a house with a well-decorated shrine and a fabric amulet posted on their front door. The owner must be a real believer in Brahmin.

Their shrine looks more luxurious than their house.

There are many banana trees in this alley.

Some took bananas from the trees to eat at home.

Some came here to worship the trees with garlands

Even Though the area seems to be filled with Burmese, I see traditional Thai beliefs through shrines scattered in various areas.

I like the vibrant colors seen in this area. Whether they are colors of nature or man-made colors, intentionally or not, they all make this area colorful and unique.

I saw creativity through how they grow vegetables within their limited space.

Walking around in this area, one must be aware of the stray dogs. Not all of them are friendly. This dog’s name is Chao Kuay. It seems to guard the area, barking at any strangers who walk past.

It was someone’s pet before but the owner abandoned it. Now it lives as a stray dog here. People in the area seem to know Chao Kuay and its story.

In the other junctions, the selections of fonts in terms of type and size of the house number caught my eyes.

I found new patterns from fences, windows, and doors. This finding makes me feel good being out here and seeing all these.

I thought that there was nothing interesting in the area, but instead I found something that showed me Onnut 80 characters. I think they are charming and unique to the area.

The tangled street wires become a bird’s nest. So while walking around, we have to pay attention to both dogs and birds.

Local lifestyles can be seen through small things they use in their daily life. Hanging objects seem to be a popular choice of keeping things afloat from the ground.

Perhaps this is very Thai, a country where flooding is a part of life.

They hang things on the grids or fence that look stable.

This house planted trees to conceal the hanging clothes.

This house hangs a landline phone on the fence to let people call instead of using the broken ring bell.

Another evidence of flooding in this area can be seen from the stacking blocks which are created as a step to prevent shoes from floating during the flood.

I saw factory workers driving bicycles from their home in the morning.

They parked them under the left container block to protect their bicycles from the heat.

During the rainy season, some cover their bicycle seats with plastic bag, to keep them from getting wet.

From the outside of my village, I often see trash that gets on the side of the road. This tells me that we need more trash bins.

There are guards sitting in front of the factory in the main alley, from 6 am to 8 pm. It makes me feel safe walking around here because I am not alone.

I found more stray dogs and puppies in the alleys. I see dog food placed around some areas.

I ran across these stray puppies. They live under the logs in front of the Formular factory

When one puppy saw me, the other two started to come out from their hideout.

Everytime I placed dog food around the area and walked further into the alley.

The food would disappear by the time I walked back.

I also found cats! So there are both stray dogs and cats in the alley.

Deep in the junction 5, I found a swamp surrounded with forest.

The owner is a local. He has been living in this area for 24 years. His house is right next to the coffee shop.

I kept walking until I started to see the road from two-lanes become one-lane.

I saw only a few houses and more forest areas.

I saw unused objects have become useful. This is a broken sofa placed in front of the house.

This sofa serves as a normal outdoor chair. This chair can withstand the sun and the rain.

Here they use pieces of wood joined together to cover a big hole on the wall.

Along the way, I came across many overgrown forests.

I found that some eatable vegetables along the path. Most of them are common vegetables grown in Burma. H18

This one is acacia. The Burmese like to eat it with fermented fish and chilli paste

However, in the same area, I also saw trashes like cardboard, foam, paper, wood and plastic.

I saw garbage collector riding around in the alley.

At first I thought they came here to collect these garbage. I wonder where they would sell them.

Then I started to recognise that there is a recycle factory that buys and sells cardboard and boxes.

By walking and exploring around the whole area, I understand the interaction between local people and the space clearer. From “no expectation” to these found, I feel that I have discovered something.

And through this discovery, I started to understand Onnut 80 in the way that I have never thought of before.

What’s about your area?