This paper presents the ‘Kin Dee You Dee’ (Thai for ‘Eat well, live well’) toolkit, which comprises three sets of serious games aimed at facilitating discussions and transformative learning on resilience to urban low-income communities. The first stage of the toolkit creates awareness of key concepts related to resilience, the second stage allows participants to map individual and community assets and identify risks associated with them, and the final stage encourages participants to reflect upon potential threats and to create a strategic plan in response. The study examines the toolkit’s potential in increasing meaningful community engagement and participation, and enhancing disaster risk awareness through the application of the toolkit in the Bangkok Metropolitan Region and Udon Thani province, which are areas that are highly exposed to climate risks. This paper presents the concepts, development and application of the ‘Kin Dee You Dee’ toolkit, concluding that it is a useful tool that can allow policymakers and other involved stakeholders in city development projects to engage with communities and increase risk awareness.

This paper explores how organised urban communities in Bangkok are planning for and responding to environmental and other crises, to identify approaches to fostering more sustainable, inclusive and resilient urban development. Lower-income residents may not have access to support systems such as disaster insurance, so being able to use existing assets can offer an opportunity for successful coping and adaptation strategies to future shocks. The study explores what actions are taken by lower-income residents to cope and adapt using their individual and collective assets in response to current and future hazards – especially in contexts where social capital is strong from a history of collective slum upgrading. It shows that such asset-based approaches can be an entry point for cooperation between these communities and other stakeholders, including local government, local NGOs and others, and there is scope to further strengthen asset-based adaptation approaches through legal and institutional measures.

The phenomenon of urbanization has placed Bangkokians in situations with relatively limited living spaces. Middle-income nuclear families generally choose to live individually in either small condominium units in the city center or small semi-detached houses in suburban areas, with relatively little concern or care for their neighbours. Lower middle-income families, on the other hand, tend to live in Bangkok’s periphery, with their relatives where possible, sharing limited resources for basic living such as food, housing, and finances. The current study examines row house design in suburban Bangkok that typically houses lower middle-income families, with the aims of investigating how these families modify living spaces in order to support their lifestyles. Data collected via interviews, observations, and physical as well as behavioral mappings led to two key findings with respect to how lower middle-income families optimize uses of their row houses. First, they maximize the uses of both interior and exterior spaces in order to house extended family members in a way that encourages successive generations to take good and close care of each other. This suggests a return to traditional Thai reciprocal living culture where the older generations help raise grandchildren while those of working ages create income and take care of the older generations in return. Second, income-generating activities can be held at home, with minimal labor costs, allowing each family member to contribute in some ways to the overall household income. Regarding the minimal building costs that arise through small land plots and limited habitable spaces, we conclude by recommending an alternative row house design to better serve the varying and incremental needs of multi-generational lower middle-income families in Thai social context.

This article investigates an emerging creative practice led by elderly individuals and residents in Baan Thachang, a rural village in central Thailand. The focus is on Chara Chatri , an unconventional Thai performing arts troupe, as an example of creative ageing practices. The study examines how community resources, combined with the culturally innovative performances of Chara Chatri disseminated through online platforms, captivated audiences and generated income during the COVID-19 lockdowns from 2020 to 2021 and beyond. Employing observation and interview methods, this research seeks to understand the establishment and sustainability of this practice. The analysis indicates that this unique form of performing arts, integrated with local community resources, provided a creative solution to mitigate the economic and social impacts of the pandemic. Elderly performers, regarded as valuable human capital, alongside the local social, cultural and physical resources, significantly contributed to the community’s resilience. The creative ageing practice within the Baan Thachang community, coupled with the collective efforts of its members, presents a model that could be adapted in other settings. This model illustrates how the synergy between the wisdom of elderly individuals and creative practices, supported by community resources, can foster resilience at both the individual and community levels.