Mor Temor

2.1 Thailand Floating Village

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The influences of the rainy seasons in Thailand were very strong; the rising of the water in Chao Phraya river was of such proportions, that it was one of the reasons why the settlers made their houses floating. Other attendant circumstances were the obtainability of bamboo and the economy of this type of housing. The relatively poor people did not have to buy land or pay rent.

The houses were arranged in groups of different sizes along the banks, on both sides of the river and along the banks of an island in the river. Their tints are the same; their compositions and shapes integrate with natural surroundings.

These houses, with the landingstage, the fishcages, the verandas and the floating gardens are an important part of the livingspace of its occupants. It is an environment of combined functions intergrating sitting, sleeping, cooking, eating, working, recreation as shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2  Thailand Floating House.

The new floating houses of today are built by professional carpenters. Some panels are moved from the old house, but generally the houses are constructed in a more conventional way without the removable prefabricated panels and with modern construction methods and materials. Under the wooden floor the bamboo bundles remain; bamboo is easy available and not expensive (Avri, 1979).

Arch. Mor Temor