BKT Next: Past Present and Future

Bang Khun Thian District is a rural and urban area in the same district and is the only district of Bangkok that borders the Gulf of Thailand. Therefore, the accelerating factors of environmental change and urban expansion have rapidly affected the coastal ecosystem and land use changes in the Bang Khun Thian-Sea District. Although various agencies are currently accelerating management to address immediate problems, there remains a lack of a long-term action plan with a holistic concept that integrates knowledge from multiple disciplines, which would help plan operations with a vision and present a comprehensive spatial management model to create the power to solve problems and develop the area tangibly and sustainably. SAAN: The International Seminar on Collaborative Partnership for Sustainable Coastal Area and Ecosystem Development in the Gulf of Thailand is the first project under BKT Next (Bang Khun Thian Research and  Development Group, based on action research). This framework focuses on coastal area and ecosystem research and development design to identify future directions for the Gulf of Thailand area in Bangkok, Samut Prakan, Samut Sakhon, and Samut Songkhram. Qualitative research tools include physical site characteristics studies, native plant and flora data collection, in-depth interviews, and participatory processes. (Participatory Process), Ecological Mapping and Geo-Social Mapping. The study results found that the most important problems that need to be urgently addressed are 1) Infrastructure and utilities, where the community needs roads to connect communities the most. 2) Environment: To address the problem of coastal erosion, the community needs to build dams to reduce erosion and prevent seawater from rising. 3) New Economy, such as promoting food processing to expand agricultural and fishery products. Shared values are the nature of the area, freedom, and family relationships. In addition, there are various projects that BKT Next has participated in, provided advice, and promoted, such as the Creative District Project, the Project to Develop the Potential of the New Generation and Returned Local Networks, the Bang Khun Thian Monkey House Development Project, the Bang Kradee Cultural District Development Project, the Bangkok Sea Farm Festival, Low Carbon Tourism, and the Predicting and Protecting: An Atmospheric and Ocean Modeling Research Group Initiative for Thailand’s Coastal Area Project, which are ongoing projects on various issues in the area to inform development policies for the Bang Khun Thian area, enabling adaptation to climate change, preserving marine resources, and developing sustainable cities and communities.