Abstract:
The main purposes of this research are to study the living conditions and construction materials of houses in the community and to study the residents ability to pay for the repairs so that alternatives for house repair can be proposed to suit the residents budget. This research is based on documents, photographs, a survey and observations, housing designs and construction materials, interviews with residents, sellers of construction materials and local house builders. Nine houses were taken as case studies and can be divided into five types: row-houses on the river bank, central Thai traditional houses, applied-style houses, localized houses and modern houses. Five of them are located on the river bank and four of them are located in an orchard. The analysis of alternatives for repair was carried out by using statistics, estimates and calculations in line with the residents affordability. It was found that most houses are built on a wooden structure and houses which require the most repairs were the houses on the river bank., followed by localized houses and central Thai traditional houses. There are four areas of repair: roofing, walls, floors and posts. The most serious problem is that the soil condition, from the surface to the depth of 13.00 meters near the river bank, is black clay that cannot support the house posts which carry the weight of the house. This causes the posts to sink, which is a problem the residents cannot deal with by themselves. As a result, local house builders play an important role in this repair. Their repairing methods are 1. Wrapping the sinking post with a zinc sheet and pouring concrete into the space between the post and the sheet, 2. Adding a concrete post to the sinking post and 3. Replacing the sinking post with a concrete post. As for the affordability, the residents, who have a variety of jobs, earn a low income. Most of them have more expenses than income. As a result, they have very little left monthly and can barely afford the repair. They choose cheap and easy-to-find materials to repair their houses. There are 13 alternative materials for repair: 2 for roofing, 5 for walls, 3 for floors and 3 for foundations. There are 2 ways to repair houses: 1) repair everything at the same time and 2) repair one section at a time. As for the first way, there are 90 options to choose from, while there are 13 options to choose from for the second way. Most residents prefer to repair one part at one time and prefer to use a concrete post to deal with the sinking post issue. In general, they would prefer to have an all-wood house, but the price of wood is high. They cannot afford it. Wood is the best choice because it is light, flexible and renewable, in addition to keeping the construction knowledge of local house builders alive. In terms of suggestions, related agencies such as local organizations and the Housing Authority of Thailand should help them to repair their houses by 1) give the appropriate advice on how to repair them, 2) providing necessary financial assistance such as loans for house repair on the condition that the materials and carpenters are available in the area to reduce the repair cost. As for a long-term plan, 1) there should be a feasibility study about using wood to build houses and about alternatives to the usual materials such as using wood from coconut tree which are largely grown in the area to replace wood from other trees which is more expensive and difficult to obtain. 2) Construction knowledge from local house builders should be researched and reported so that anyone can study it. There should also be a curriculum about building houses based on this indigenous knowledge taught in many educational institutions.