Paths
> Kanchanaburi, Thailand
Kanchanaburi, Thailand
kanchanaburi
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Kanchanaburi
paths summary
Kanchanaburi is rather small town close to a great natural parks. There
is a lot of agriculture and many paths are related to it (i.e. paths going
to fields etc.). This is the first time for me as a pathmapper that people
spot me as a foreigner/tourist right away. But I go to places where tourists
probably don't go that often - to paths. So I heard all the time question:
“Where are you going?” as people were worried if I'm lost.
It is hard to say that I am going nowhere. It is like I should invent
some sort of explanation, a sight that I could be kind of going to.
It is also quite challenging to differ public and private places. A path can be on somebody's private yard, but I don't first notice the private. This is a challenge not only in Thailand but in all the places I've been mapping. Sharon Zukin defines public space with 1.) proximity (you can't control how close people are to you), 2.) diversity (you can't control who are close to you), 3.) accessibility (I don't see this working with all public spaces i.e. how many times have you seen police tell drunks to leave a park etc.). Now, this is theory, but how can you differ these in practice and in cultures not familiar to you?
One nice incidence was when I bicycled to a small village in the countryside. The road ended and in the end of the road there was a start of a path. Before I got on it, basically all the village's people stopped me and and a little boy told me that the road stops here. I don't know why they didn't want me to go on a path. I'd like to think that they had secrets, but in real life, I know it's more practical. The road ends and why would any foreigner want to continue to a path.
The paths were mapped in spring 2006.
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