Introduction

I did not know it then, but this book started in 2003 with the decision to pay attention to a site in Bangkok. I had finished an interview with a planner from the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority during my sabbatical at Chulalongkorn University, Thailand. The focus of that interview was city competitiveness and liveability and I had asked for examples of local government intervention.

At the end of the interview, the planner suggested I visit Fort Sumen Park in the old Bangkok district, where the city has created a park in the midst of a congested inner city area, opening up a view of the Chao Praya River. The Sumen Park was indeed a precious intervention. With land acquired from an old government warehouse, the park was completed in time for the king's birthday. It is well used and visitors enjoy a nice break under the shade of the trees. Fort Sumen Park affords pedestrians along Phra Athit Road a tantalizing and unhindered glimpse of the river, a rare view since much of the Chao Phraya River on the old quarter side of Bangkok is blocked by buildings.

After visiting this park, it made sense to walk to Fort Mahakan, the only other remaining fort that was part of the old walled city of Rattanakosin, a short distance from Fort Sumen. When I got to Fort Mahakan, a different reception awaited me.