Here’s a canal-side squatter settlement in Bangkok. The land belongs to the Treasury Department; CODI help organized this residency verification day.

The real purpose of this verification is to check to see if the names on the plan are that of the actual residents. Then the housing titles would be awarded – collectively – to those who are actually living here.

The new housing titles would be placed under the community co-op so that the rich would not be able to buy off the residents individually. There are many instances of informal landlords – or “slumlords” – who rented out housing units to other squatters. A few squatters sold their units to another group of squatters, making huge profits. Some “squatters” came in Mercedes Benz, some came out of a Pepsi billboard shacks. All of them want to make sure that they get their housing title after completing the verification process today.