Sustaining Traditional Communities and Vernacular Settlements: Insights from a Conservation Effort with Community Participation in Sakae Krang Floating Community, Thailand

The Sakae Krang floating community in Uthai Thani Province, Thailand is a unique cultural landscape facing significant threats from urban expansions, modernization, and environmental change. Although the knowledge and skills of the craftsmen have sustained this community in the past, they are fast disappearing today. In this context, this research examines how conservation practices can be introduced to this community to sustain them for the future. For this purpose, it identifies a comprehensive conservation framework for traditional floating communities in Thailand to preserve their harmony and complementarity within their surrounding environments, and implements a conservation task with community participation. The research employs a qualitative research methodology involving site surveying, physical surveying, GIS mapping, as well as semi-structured interviews and participatory design workshops as data gathering techniques. All the 127 floating houses in the Sakae Krang have been surveyed. Interviews were carried out with the locals as well as the craftsmen of the village. Findings reveal the significant role of craftsmen in keeping the traditions and culture of the community alive. Their skills and knowledge are significant not only in the repair and maintenance activities but also in analyzing and evaluating structural damages to the buildings. However, the Sakae Krang floating community faces challenges such as declining populations, changes in the traditional lifestyles, environmental degradation, and declining interest in traditional crafts among the younger generations. The study found that successful conservation strategies must be holistic, integrating local craftsmanship into sustainable modern practices, promoting strong community participation, and balancing traditions with modernity through collaborations among all the stakeholders. It is concluded that such an approach will help preserve the cultural identity and ecological sustainability of the Sakae Krang community for the future.