UNESCO’s awarded historical shophouses boost the spirit of restoration work

Na Phra Lan Historic Shophouses project in Bangkok, Thailand recently received the Honourable Mention in the 2011 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation. Carried out by the Crown Property Bureau (CPB), the project integrated well historic building restoration and local community development.

The jury praised that: “The project has recovered the original, historically-accurate aesthetic while accommodating continued contemporary use. It establishes a commendable model for participation by the long-term tenants, who contributed to the project costs and have committed to maintaining the buildings in the years to come.”

On the occasion of the award ceremony UNECO Bangkok’s Dieter Schlenker spoke to Dr. Yongtanit Pimonsathean, Conservation advisor to the Crown Property Bureau about the restoration of the Na Phra Lan Shophouses.  

UNESCO: How did this project on renovating the shophouses start?

Dr. Yongtanit: It started when the shophouses were registered as National Heritage and with the awareness of the Crown Property Bureau on this national registration. As a property owner they wanted to follow the Thai and international standards and rules for conservation as much as possible for this heritage property. So this was the starting point. The shophouses were more than a hundred years old. So, as far as the timing is concerned, the housing conditions were going down and at the same time a lot of tenants didn’t feel secure if they would be able to stay longer or not. So the idea was to combine the restoration or the refurbishment of the shophouses together with maintaining and retaining the conditions of the residences. 

UNESCO: One of the principal ideas was that after the renovation the tenants would move back under the same conditions as before?

Dr. Yongtanit: Yes, that was the first condition that the Crown Property Bureau set.

UNESCO: And the renovation took long?

Dr. Yongtanit: Eight months. Actually before we upgraded this project, we had another project as a pilot project with less shophouses, on the Phra Athit Road, with only nine houses. We negotiated with the tenants and they were given the opportunity to stay and continue the rent contract. Once the agreement was made, the restoration began. So for the Na Phra Lan restoration project we learned from the pilot project.

UNESCO: Will there be other similar projects in central Bangkok?

Dr. Yongtanit: We have what is called the Inner Ratanakosin area. We have similar shophouses quite close to Na Phra Lan shophouses, which are the Ta Chang shophouses of more than 40 to 50 units of houses. The other side is Tha Tien which contains more than nearly 100 units of shophouses. These are the very near future project of the Crown Property Bureau for running the same approach of the renovation, because these shophouses still have people living inside. So the same approach will be applied as well for the rest of the shophouses.

UNESCO: Which challenges did you face in this project?

Dr. Yongtanit: First, the challenge was the negotiations with the tenants because they have been living there for generations and they had no idea of restoration. They had no idea of the consequence that they had to move out for a while during the restoration work. But the Crown Property Bureau had a very good offer, meaning that during the restoration we gave compensation to the tenants for renting out another property outside the site, the funding for the restoration was shared between the tenants (approximately 25 per cent of the costs) and the Crown Property Bureau (approximately 75 per cent), and the tenants were given security to maintain their rent agreements with the Property Bureau. Another challenge was that the site is located near the Grand Palace and we had to be careful with the construction work. Also it was quite difficult to contract for such restoration works: to bring in lorries, to take materials on-site. So the timing took a little bit longer than we expected but we could do it within eight months.

UNESCO: What is the added value of the UNESCO award for the shophouses renovation? Will this push for similar restoration initiatives in Bangkok?

Dr. Yongtanit: I think the positive impact of the UNESCO Heritage Award is quite significant for Thailand especially in the conservation field. As far as the Thai government is concerned, heritage was seen by the government or the ordinary people as dead monuments or ancient monuments. But this exercise of the Crown Property Bureau is more of what is called “living heritage”. The living heritage means that people also live and also have a future with the heritage building. Getting the award from UNESCO this time will bring hope and expectations of the other properties owned by the private sector, as the Crown Property Bureau has done conservation work up to international standards. That would be a pride not only to the Property Bureau but also to the Thai people.

UNESCO: Do you consider the project a success? 

Dr. Yongtanit: It’s not for me to make a judgment if a successful project would look like that, but feedback from the tenants and feedback from society once people get to know about the restoration project would be a very good reward for the Crown Property Bureau.

---end---

Entries are now being accepted for the 2012 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation. The deadline for receipt of materials is 31 March 2012. 

For more information, please see UNESCO Bangkok press release and brochure. 

Or visit us at: www.unescobkk.org/culture/heritageawards.