Water-Based Settlement and the Loss of Community Water Resilience

Abstract

After the first dam was built in the Chao Phraya River during the 1950s, several water-controlled structures and megaprojects were built throughout the basin. For the first 30 years, water levels were stable, and the dams largely provided flood prevention. However, in recent years, global warming and climate change have been driving the frequency and intensity of extreme events. Local people have gradually lost their resilience against living with water during the years of a stable flood and flow system. This caused the interiority of the amphibious culture to drown into an oblivion state in the water-based settlement. The investigation was conducted in two villages with identical environmental conditions and similar cultural livelihoods in the floodplain of Ayutthaya Province against seasonal water intrusion. The physical characteristics of housing and cultural landscape of the waterfront villages were analysed via floor plans and cross-sectional study to explain the physical changes through time. The primary investigation revealed that the loss of the underneath space is an important indicator of housing changes resulting from the water conditions becoming more stable. Individuals have started to forget how to live with water. At the same time, the characteristics of the stilt house with an underneath space indicated that the communities continue to practice resilience to co-exist with the flood phenomenon.