12

EXPOSURE

The main objective of the exposure was to orientate the participants to the socio-political realities of the host country. The participants this year were brought to see and talk to the people in the slums by the local host committee. Before departing for the exposure, Mr. Sopon Pornchokchai, Consultant at the National Housing Authority, briefly explained the plight of the slum dwellers to the participants. He said that the present slum situation is a complex problem resulting basically from the rapid development in the urban areas against the chronic poverty in the rural areas. Forced out of their poverty stricken villages, rural folks migrate to the cities to become the cheap labour force. They live in populated communities in substandard housing systems which are polluted and dirty.

The 1985 figures showed that one-fifth of the population of Bangkok (about 5 million) live in slums. Only about 30% of the slum dwellers were born in Bangkok.

Many people are of the opinion that slums exist because government housing policies have failed to provide standard housing for the people, particularly the poor. The sad reality is that the middle-income people, who form the dominant group, are self centered and passive to socio-political issues. Their consumeristic life-styles and uncaring attitudes have excluded the poor.