When Ghosts Were Landlords
- YAN
- Sep 23, 2023
- 3 min read
Updated: Aug 23, 2024
Bangkok is a city of improvisation and impermanence. It’s a city of fast traders, sultry women, godfathers, hackers, heretics, backpackers, self-exiled scholars, and crime novelists.
But behind this fabric of underground activities, there are opportunities for numerous social innovations.
"Not all of them are legal," warns a black-market IT shop owner. He smiles while displaying a large collection of country-code free DVD players along with a tattoo on his right arm.
Today, more than 60% of Bangkok’s economy rests in the Informal sector. Over 1.2 million of it’s residents live in informal housing -- or "slums” as they are known to most people.
"These are just temporary arrangements," explains a bearded Tuk-Tuk driver. He has lived in one of the wooden shacks hidden behind a large Banyan tree for 22 years.
Behind several dilapidated wooden shacks and the Banyan roots, however. are the beautifully maintained "Spirit Houses" that shine through many dark nights, offering lights in dim alleyways for millions of families. The Spirit House is a living relic to Bangkok's traditional (pre-monarchy) land use system.
It reminds the living that the dead are the undisputable landlord; and that the land belongs to the spirits who reside in the Spirit Houses. It was believed that each piece of land had a unique set of spirits that permanently looked after its use.
Traditionally, in order to settle on the land in a proper manner, a ceremonial offering was made to the spirits. Buddhist monks were summoned to chant sacred prayers before the spirits. In some cases, a Brahmin was also invited to offer Hindu recitation. It was a traditional way to obtain a "building permit."
Should the land is no longer in use by a family, it would be returned to the collective ownership of the spirits. No living human being actually owned a piece of land, instead they acted only as trustees of the land. It was a flexible and transient system of land use.
This transient system was put aside during the mid-19th century as Thailand moved towards a more centralized nation-state. The mid-20th century brought about the concept of property rights and permanent land title. Those who failed to claim their land titles were relegated to the status of "squatters" with no right to access the municipal water supply, sewage system, garbage collection, and electricity.
As more people migrated to the urban core to find higher wage jobs, the canal-side communities started to become crowded and chaotic. Without modern waste management systems, the traditional canal communities turned into filthy unhygienic habitats, sprawling alongside black waterways.
Those who were quick to grab hold of the new concept of land title became the formal owners of land -- and they were few. In Thailand, 10% of the population owns over 60% of all privately held property; and this is where the tension arises. It’s the clash of old and new concepts of ownership; a clash between the transient trusteeship of land and the permanent freehold entitlement to the land.
The concept of rights and entitlement was a disruptive concept ln 18th century Europe; It emboldened common folks' to take charge of their own lives against the ruling Monarchy.
In Thailand; ironically, this concept was introduced by the ruling class themselves so that they could centralize state power. The concept clashed directly with the old Buddhist concept of impermanence. In retrospect, informal settlements in Bangkok are not a new phenomenon; they are as old as the city Itself. Informality and impermanence ls the essence of Bangkok's cultural heritage. This idea clearly carried through in the way things have been done in Bangkok for the past 200 years.
It is visible through the ubiquitous street food stalls, amorphous markets, brackets construction (detachable), fast-forward fashion, improvised transit system, pay-as-you-go phone cards, and casual romances. Likewise, a house on a piece of land ls simply a temporary arrangement; to be used and let go when done; transferred back to the collective spirits in the “Spirit House”.
"Why should it last?" shrugged a bootlegged DVD seller when questioned by a disgruntled customer; unable to play the disc after the first run.
"You have already finished the movie did you not?" he retorted.
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