The fantasy of city planning
Sarit's understanding of national development was basic and unsophisti-
cated. Phatthana was expressed in terms of his paternalistic concern for
social happiness and the promotion of modern ways (Thak 1974: 327).
Direct intervention in the urban process included his decree of 1959
banning the three-wheeled samlor (pedicabs) from the streets of Bangkok
(because they were 'unsightly' and unfit to be seen in a modern city), the
clearance of some major slums, a welfare programme aiming to reduce