“Creative Woodworking Course at Bang Pho Community”, A Chulalongkorn University Project with Social Impact 

The “Creative Woodworking Course Project” at Bang Po’s Community Wood Road is the latest project of the Faculty of Architecture, Chulalongkorn University that contributes to a creative social impact. It is operated in collaboration with the Social Development Office of Bangkok and Bang Po Wood Road Community to upgrade the occupation and expertise of woodworking in Bang Po. The goal is to help the unemployed or underemployed learn woodworking skills that emphasize hands-on teaching by craftsmen and entrepreneurs from Bang Po who have shifted their roles from craftsmen and entrepreneurs to teachers and knowledge transfer along with the basic design education of Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Architecture. 

This is a research project supported by the Local Development Fund Management and Administration Unit (LDMA) under the project of upgrading and driving the learning city (Learning City) in the research project known as “Upgrading and driving Bangkok as a learning city of Thailand: learning woodwork to drive the creative economy and create careers from the Bang Pho Wood Road area, Prachanarumit community”. 

The Creative Woodworking Course has been jointly devised by entrepreneurs and Bang Po craftsmen along with researchers from the Faculty of Architecture, Chulalongkorn University. The area of ​​an old wooden warehouse in the community has been transformed into a teaching and learning area for woodworking and the course is divided into 16 periods within 8 days. Learning from using the body’s senses with wood to making pieces of work, with an emphasis on increasing skills from actual woodworking, with the community as the main transmitter. Students who are unemployed or do not have permanent jobs who complete the course will receive a certificate from the Governor of Bangkok and can use this certification to apply for jobs directly in the Bang Po community to create a career and continue the wisdom of woodworking. 

The outcome of this project will be beneficial to the various sectors and individuals as follows: 

• Unemployed persons who are students will acquire woodworking skills and can apply for a job and have an occupation in Bang Pho. 
• Carpenters and entrepreneurs in Bang Pho have altered their roles from craftsmen and sellers to creators and transferers of knowledge. At the end of this project, entrepreneurs opened training spaces and created their own curriculum in the community, resulting in changes in the local economy and making woodworking appealing and interesting once again to the new generation. 
• Shops in the local community have had the chance to exchange and collaborate in the community so that together they can teach and provide learning equipment and create a network of cooperation within the community. 
• The Bang Pho Wooden Road community has been able to move towards becoming a “Creative District” in accordance with the plan jointly established with the research team from Chulalongkorn University and network partners by organizing a competition for the design and prototype of a “chair” by the community, which is the first time that the community has jointly created new items that can result in a sustainable “Creative Economy”.  
• The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration has lent its support to the development of knowledge and craftsmanship in the future that will help to create jobs for the less privileged groups.  

This is a small-level community project that brings about pride in experimenting in woodworking and their occupation as an example and inspiration for many other communities in the country to develop and expand their knowledge and increase opportunities for others in society in the same way.

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