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BANGKOK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Phatsanee Phutkaew lost nearly everything she owned 10 years ago when her modest canalside home in Bangkok was damaged by Thailand’s worst floods in decades, forcing the 55-year-old slum dweller and her neighbours to evacuate to emergency shelters.
Having waited nearly three months before they could go home, Phatsanee and her husband then met with officials who offered the community a plan to build new houses at a safer location.
Eight years later, almost 300 families moved about 3 km (1.9 miles) to homes built with loans from the Community Organizations Development Institute (CODI), a government agency, under the Baan Mankong - or collective housing - programme.
Activist Srisuwan Janya has filed lawsuits against eight public officials over their roles in the recently completed Ban Mankong housing project after it was found to have encroached onto a public canal.
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