Highlights:

• Housing for All with Local Municipalities – Advice booth, data-return forum, field data collection and research reporting.
• Training for Local Technicians and Community Builders – Adapting homes and facilities for older people and persons with disabilities.
• Climate-Responsive Planning and Community Projects – City-in-nature lectures, a community water garden and flood-ready local planning.
• Showcasing Affordable Housing Models with Local and National Partners – Baan Saen Yu Dee homes shown with Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and at national expos.
• Policy Dialogue with National Agencies – Housing for an ageing society and facility-quality standards.
• Inclusive Design Competitions and Youth Engagement – Ramp-design contests for persons with disabilities and high-school students.

Thammasat University works with local authorities to tackle planning and development issues and to help local residents gain access to safe, accessible, and affordable housing. The Universal Design Center (Thammasat UDC), established under the Faculty of Architecture and Planning as a research and design center, addresses the need for quality, safe, accessible, and affordable housing, facilities, and environments for local communities, especially for older people and persons with disabilities.

UDTham – Universal Design – Research and Design Unit for All, Thammasat University (Facebook)

Throughout 2025, Thammasat UDC and the Faculty of Architecture and Planning joined municipalities, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, provincial administrative organisations, and national agencies in activities that connected research with local decision-making. These ranged from a public housing-advice booth, field data collection and community data-return forums with municipalities, to training for local government technicians and community builders to adapt homes for older people and persons with disabilities.

Climate-responsive planning lectures delivered in provincial city halls, flood-preparedness guidance for local governments and a community-built water-treatment garden extended the same collaborative approach to wider urban development, while exhibitions of low-cost “Baan Saen Yu Dee” homes, policy dialogues with national agencies and design competitions for young people carried the message of affordable, inclusive housing to a wider public. Together, these activities show how university expertise supports local authorities and communities in making housing and neighbourhoods more inclusive, resilient, and affordable.

Key Projects and Activities

The projects below are grouped under six themes as in the highlights section.

1. Housing for All & Sustainable Community Development (Roi Et and Ladsawai Municipalities)

As part of a research project on urban housing management systems supported by the Program Management Unit for Area-Based Development (PMU-A) under the “Housing for All” framework, Thammasat UDC worked directly with municipalities to collect data, return findings and design housing approaches with residents.

Data Collection (January 2025):  Thammasat UDC and the Universal Design Research Unit (UD-THAM) held a training session for research assistants who collect field data in Roi Et Municipality for the research project “Development of Mechanisms and Management Systems for Housing that Align with the Context of the City for Everyone”. The project is supported by PMU-A under the sub-programme “Developing livable cities linked to community and local development”. The project lead thanked the municipal staff who coordinated the event and stayed with the team throughout the session.

Public Outreach & Design Consultation (March 2025): At the opening ceremony of the Ladsawai Municipality Medical Center, Thammasat UDC ran the “Housing for All” booth in Lam Luk Ka, Pathum Thani. The booth brought research directly to the public by offering advice on universal home design and housing management, accompanied by an interactive prize quiz that raised local awareness about accessible and affordable housing.

Data-Return Forum & Participatory Co-Design (June 2025): Thammasat UDC, led by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Choomket Sawangjaroen, held a data-return forum at Ladsawai Municipality for the research project “Development of Mechanisms and Management Systems for Housing for Low-Income Elderly People that Align with the Context of the City or Community for Everyone”. Municipal officials, medical center staff, and community representatives from all 11 villages attended. The forum returned research findings to the community and opened space for residents to help design housing management approaches that meet the needs of low-income elderly people, building participatory thinking and supporting the development of fair, safe, and sustainable housing prototypes within the municipal context.

Research Reporting & Review: On July 24, 2025, the research team held an on-site meeting to review the draft final report and the 12-month progress report of the Housing for All research project supported by PMU-A. The review formed part of the funder’s monitoring of results from the municipal pilot areas.

Lessons-Learned Meeting: On July 25, 2025, a lessons-learned meeting brought together the research grantee organisations working under the PMU-A Housing for All framework, under the sub-programme on livable cities linked to community and local development.

2. Training for Local Technicians and Community Builders

Training and knowledge sharing equip local governments, communities and public-agency staff to make homes and facilities safer and more accessible for older people and persons with disabilities.

On May 14, 2025, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Choomket Sawangjaroen, head of Thammasat UDC, served as guest speaker for the Elderly School programme (Class 2) of Sam Khok Subdistrict Municipality on “Suitable Environments and Housing in Old Age”. The session, hosted by the municipality’s social work section, prepared residents for ageing and gave older people and their communities practical guidance on safer homes.

From May 20 to 24, 2025, Thammasat UDC and the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Rights Promotion and Welfare Division) held the first 24-hour basic training course on adapting residential environments for persons with disabilities, designed for local administrative organisation technicians, at Centara Life Government Center and Convention Centre, Bangkok. Using lectures, group practice, and discussion with speakers from Thammasat, national disability organisations, a government legal division, local authorities, and provincial disability service centres, the course equipped practitioners to apply Universal Design to housing for different types of disability. A total of 169 participants, including provincial disability service centre staff, technicians, and community developers from 37 northern and north-eastern provinces, completed the course and received certificates.

From September 22 to 24, 2025, Thammasat UDC and UD-THAM delivered an in-house training course for Airports of Thailand PLC (AOT) under the project “Inspection of Facilities for Persons with Disabilities and Older Persons in Airports”, a continuation of work begun in 2024. The course upgraded the skills of AOT personnel so that airports are safe and friendly for all user groups, with speakers drawn from disability associations and architecture faculties. Plans for 2026 include follow-up visits at Phuket Airport and AOT’s other airports, development of inspection tools and a manual, and e-learning media and further in-house courses.

On October 10–11, 2025, Thammasat UDC signed a Letter of Intent with seven partner networks, including the Chainat Provincial Administrative Organisation, the Chainat Skill Development, Public Health, and Social Development and Human Security offices, and ThaiHealth units, to launch the “Community Technicians for Good Living, Chainat Province” training, the first model of its kind recognised by the Department of Skill Development. Delivered at Suan Nok Chainat with funding from the provincial rehabilitation fund, the programme trains local “community technicians” who can assess risks and design home improvements, particularly for older people at risk of falls and long-term patients, so that homes match users’ real needs.

3. Climate-Responsive Planning and Community Projects

Planning knowledge, co-designed community projects and disaster-ready local planning support resilient, climate-responsive urban development.

On November 6–7, 2025, seven Thammasat Design School faculty members contributed to World Town Planning Day 2025, themed “City in Nature for Climate Change” and organised by the Department of Public Works and Town & Country Planning, Ministry of Interior. Their lectures, delivered at the main event in Bangkok, at provincial administrative organisation and provincial halls in Kanchanaburi, Samut Sakhon, and Saraburi, at Nakhon Pathom Rajabhat University, and at the Thailand Smart City Expo 2025, covered home-based climate action, tropical urban climate, urban trees, sustainable town planning, and co-designed green space. The activities shared planning knowledge with local officials and communities and supported climate-responsive urban development.

In a project published on November 6, 2025, the Faculty of Architecture and Planning, led by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kim Neil Irvine and Asst. Prof. Fah Likhitswat, worked with the Asian Institute of Technology and the Community Organizations Development Institute (CODI), with support from the Lien Foundation and Nanyang Technological University, on the “Pathum Thani Model”. Residents co-designed and helped build a vertical wastewater-treatment garden that treats up to 9,000 litres of greywater a day, turning a 2,100 square-metre flood-prone area into a community garden. The 5.3 million baht project also provides a field classroom for students and a source of vegetables and herbs for supplementary income.

Flood-Ready Local Planning: In November 2025, as floods affected at least nine southern provinces, an estimated two million people and more than 700,000 homes, Dr. Choomket Sawangjaroen, head of Thammasat UDC, was interviewed by ThisAble.me on helping older people and persons with disabilities in floods, and later summarised four lessons for local governments.

First, local authorities need accurate data, including a coordinate map of the homes of bedridden and disabled residents that can be passed to volunteers immediately. Second, rescue vehicles must suit local conditions, such as boats that can enter narrow lanes and carry patients on their beds. Third, residents should rely on neighbours and use visible signals to mark pick-up points. Fourth, evacuation shelters must follow Universal Design and must not separate persons with disabilities from their families. The guidance links local data, planning and housing environments to disaster preparedness for the most vulnerable residents.

4. Showcasing Affordable Housing Models with Local and National Partners

Prototype homes from the “Baan Saen Yu Dee” research series were exhibited with the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and at national expos, bringing low-cost, accessible housing designs in front of local authorities, agencies and the public.

Social Development Expo 2025: On September 17–18, 2025, the latest Baan Saen Yu Dee outputs of the PMU-A-funded research on housing management for low-income older people, namely “Huean Phu Thao” (an elderly house designed for equality) and “Baan Lad” (a house from Ladsawai City), were exhibited at the Social Development Expo 2025 (SDx 2025) at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center, Bangkok, under the theme “Demographic and Climate Crises”. Four further elderly-housing models were displayed with house plans available to download free of charge, and visitors showed strong interest.

Bangkok Metropolitan Administration x Thammasat: On September 22, 2025, the “100,000 UD House” of the Baan Saen Yu Dee series, designed by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Choomket Sawangjaroen and Natthawadee Tamiyakul for older people with disabilities, was displayed under the theme “Bangkok x Thammasat: Adapting Homes for the Public”, which highlighted more than ten years of work with Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), from home repairs to prototype in-home environments. The exhibit accompanied the signing of a cooperation agreement involving Thammasat University, the BMA and Navamindradhiraj University at Bang Khun Thian Geriatric Hospital, Bangkok, with the Bangkok Governor, the Thammasat rector and senior BMA and university executives attending.

Friendly Design Expo 2025: From December 11 to 14, 2025, Thammasat UDC invited visitors to its exhibition booth at the 9th Thailand Friendly Design, Health Innovation & Tourism for All Expo 2025, Hall 101, BITEC Bangna, Bangkok. The booth presented Baan Saen Yu Dee housing designs for older people, people with mobility disabilities and low-income households, reflecting housing that is accessible, safe and supports a good quality of life. The team also ran ramp-design activities and a knowledge-exchange session on Universal Design for an inclusive super-aged society. At the opening ceremony, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Choomket Sawangjaroen received the Friendly Design Awards 2025 as a model person who creates benefits for society and the country in promoting and developing Universal Design and tourism for all, presented by Akara Phromphao, Minister of Social Development and Human Security.

5. Policy Dialogue with National Agencies on Housing and Facility Standards

Thammasat UDC and UD-THAM bring research evidence to national agencies that set the framework within which local governments plan housing and facilities.

Housing for an Ageing Society: On January 24, 2025, a meeting on housing development to support an ageing society was held at the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, chaired by the Secretary to the Minister. UD-THAM and Thammasat UDC presented four sets of data: the “Comfortable Home / Smart Home”, house designs for the four regions of Thailand, a model elderly-housing room in Bang Lamung, and the four versions of the Baan Saen Yu Dee design (a knock-down home, a UD modular home, a compact house for all, and a tiny house for older people).

Facility Quality Standards: On February 14, 2025, the Director-General of the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities chaired a meeting at the department’s DEP War Room, Bangkok, with the heads of UD-THAM and Thammasat UDC, together with department officials, on facilities for persons with disabilities and everyone in society. The meeting considered two issues: assessing awareness of the provision of facilities, and a system and mechanism for assessing the quality standard of facilities. This work falls under the Minister’s 5×5 policy, Strategy 4, Measure 4, aiming at a “Flagship 5T” to drive UD 2025.

6. Inclusive Design Competitions and Youth Engagement

Design competitions at the Friendly Design Expo build skills and awareness among persons with disabilities and young designers who will shape accessible housing and public spaces.

UD Ramp Design Contest for persons with disabilities: In November 2025, an open call invited persons with disabilities of all types to join the “UD Ramp Design Contest” at Thailand Friendly Design Expo 2025. Entrants, individually or in teams of up to three, built timed ramp models with equipment provided by the organisers, on December 14, at Hall 101, BITEC Bangna. Total prizes exceeded 20,000 baht, including 10,000 baht and a trophy for first place and 5,000 baht for first runner-up, drawing on the real-life experience of users.

Young UD Architect Contest on site: During the Friendly Design Expo 2025 (December 11–14, 2025) at BITEC Bangna, the contest took place on-site. Taweebhong Wichaidit, Governor of the National Housing Authority, visited to encourage the student teams, linking young designers’ work on accessible design to the agency responsible for public housing.