The Thai government’s project called “Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC)” was announced in 2016 to stimulate economic development and help the country escape from the middle-income trap. The project provides investment incentives for the private sector and the infrastructure development of land, rail, water, and air transportation. The EEC project encompasses three provinces in the eastern region of Thailand because of their strategic locations near deep seaports and natural resources in the Gulf of Thailand. Clearly, this policy will lead to dramatic changes in land uses and the livelihoods of the people in these three provinces. However, the extent to which land use changes will occur because of this project remains unclear. This study aims to analyze land use changes in the eastern region of Thailand using a Cellular Automata–Markov model. The results show that land uses of the coastal areas have become more urbanized than inland areas, which are primarily agricultural lands. The predicted land uses suggest shrinking agricultural lands of paddy fields, field crops, and horticulture lands but expanding perennial lands. These changes in land uses highlight challenges in urban administration and management as well as threats to Thailand’s agricultural cultures in the future.

A “Smart City” framework was used to investigate and develop visions of alternative futures for a peri-urban superblock north of Bangkok, Thailand. The Smart City framework considers seven smart pillars: environment, economy, energy, mobility, people, living, and governance, with a focus on community wellbeing that is supported by information and communication technology (ICT). A mixed-method approach that included: community and industry surveys, both online and face-to-face (total n = 770); in depth, semi-structured, stakeholder interviews; passive participant observation; and photo-documentation was used to inform and organize the project visions and designs. Several themes emerged from the community surveys and key stakeholder interviews: (i) connected green space is highly valued and effectively links multiple smart pillars, enhancing community wellbeing and resiliency to flooding; (ii) superblock mobility, connectivity, and sustainable development could be achieved through a seamless, integrated public-transit system following the principles of transit-oriented development (TOD); (iii) the superblock should prepare for the implementation of Thailand 4.0 through the improved programmatic and physical integration of local industry, community, and universities, including plans for a Digital Village and co-work space. Example designs that address these considerations and vision alternative futures for the superblock are presented in this Smart City case study.

This study examines the impacts of the new mass transit systems on the land values of residential development in the Bangkok Metropolitan Region, Thailand, using geographic information systems and spatial econometrics. The study finds that the proximity to mass transit stations spatially correlates with an increase in the prices of residential land. The benefits of the new mass transit stations, however, may not be equally distributed to the residents of Bangkok due to the lack of value-capture mechanisms such as a capital gains tax or a property tax. Policy implications regarding property taxation are also discussed.

Placemaking is a fundamental concept regarding the development of innovation districts, aiming to achieve an attractive and efficient physical design that makes the districts pleasant places to live and work in. The concept also emphasizes the process of neighborhood creation that meaningfully respects and shows an understanding of place identity as well as social interactions, which are the foundation of knowledge‐based communities focusing on creativity, innovation, and research development. This study adopted Social Network Analysis (SNA) as a tool to examine the daily activities of the people who live and travel in Pattaya City, Thailand’s popular coastal tourist destination. Trip destinations and frequency of traveling could reflect some critical nodes of the activities. Spatial nodes and ties could be further developed into innovation districts that attract innovators and researchers aiming to create innovations that respond to the needs of the people. The questionnaire examining daily socio‐economic activities was distributed to 1,396 respondents, comprising three major groups of stakeholders: tourists, local people, and entrepreneurs. The findings showed that they routinely visited department stores, governmental offices, banks, and hospitals, located between North Pattaya and Central Pattaya. Such an area could potentially be developed as an innovation district, which means providing not only a cluster of jobs that generates innovation to serve local and travelling needs, but also a cluster of housing that creates a work and life balance. The analysis emphasizes the link between physical design and regional‐scaled policies that are often overlooked in policy implementation to promote innovations.

Walking has long been considered a significant factor in wellness. Previous studies have indicated 400-500 meters as a standard of the “acceptable walking distance” as compared to driving or other forms of transportation. However, “acceptable walking distance” and a “distance that one chooses to walk” are two different matters. More importantly, the distance people perceive for a trip can be one of the deciding factors in determining whether they are willing to walk, decide not to walk, or shift to other transportation modes. This research aims to define the optimal walking distances of office workers by measuring the discrepancy between their estimated and actual walking distances in the Central Business District of Bangkok during lunchtime, their most extended break during the day. The descriptive statistic shows that the average walking distance is 302.39 meters, but most workers walked shorter distances since the median distance is 211.66 meters. Nevertheless, these office workers, on the whole, significantly miscalculated their walking distances, with an average over-estimation of 191.45 meters. Regression analysis shows that, when walking for distances up to 380 meters, most workers overestimated the distance they walked, but that, when walking beyond that distance (that is, 380 meters), they estimated correctly, which indicates the maximum actual length they choose to walk.

For decades, Thailand has been the recipient of foreign migrant workers from neighbouring countries, with the majority of these workers being from Myanmar. Myanmar migrant workers are employed in various job sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing factories, and service sectors. They usually earn an adequate wage, which provides a living that is not possible in their home country. However, their income and working conditions largely depend on several factors, including host language fluency. This paper is one of the first papers about migrants and Thai language fluency using Thailand as a case study. In this research study, open-ended questions were used to conduct semi-structured interviews with Myanmar urban migrant workers from different work sectors as well as a representative from a language academy in Bangkok. The results of this study show that Thai language proficiency affects the income of the Myanmar migrants as well as their career opportunities. The policy implications suggested by this paper include implementation of Thai language training for urban migrants by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and its non-formal education department.