Abstract—This study aimed to determine low-income housing adaptations for flooding, which causes living problems and housing damage, and the results from improvement. Three low-income settlements in Chiang Mai which experienced different flood types, i.e. flash floods in Samukeepattana, drainage floods in Bansanku, and river floods in Kampangam, were chosen for the study. Almost all of the residents improved their houses to protect the property from flood damage by changing building materials to flood damage resistant materials for walls, floors, and other parts of the structure that were below the base of annual flood elevation. They could only build some parts of their own homes, so hiring skilled workers or contractors was still important. Building materials which have no need for any special tools and are easy to access and use for construction, as well as low cost, are selected for construction. The residents in the three slums faced living problems for only a short time and were able to cope with them. This may be due to the location of the three slums near the city where assistance is readily available. But the housing and the existence in the slums can endure only the regular floods and residence still have problems in unusual floods, which have been experienced 1-2 times during the past 10 years. The residents accept the need for evacuations and prepare for them. When faced with extreme floods, residence have evacuated to the nearest safe place such as schools and public building, and come back to repair the houses after the flood. These are the distinguishing characteristics of low-income living which can withstand serious situations due to the simple lifestyle. Therefore, preparation of living areas for use during severe floods and encouraging production of affordable flood resistant materials should be areas of concern when formulating disaster assistance policies for low income people. Keywords—Flooding, low-income settlement, housing, adaptation. I. INTRODUCTION OW-income settlements are hidden in vulnerable areas which are difficult to access and not suitable for living [1]. The residents in the low-income settlements face many intractable housing problems such as overcrowding, poor housing, lack of land tenure, poor infrastructure and public utilities. The settlements usually flood when there is a storm or heavy rain which causes the living problems, health issues and housing damage [2]-[4]. The studies of the IPCC have found that the climate in the 21 st century will have increased rainfall, possibly causing big storms. Heavy rainfall events will become more severe and more frequent [5]. In addition, Shinawanno, who projected future climate changes in Thailand, has found that the average annual rainfall will increase by 15-25% in terms of Nachawit Tikul is with the Faculty of Architecture and Environmental Design, Maejo University, San Sai, Chiang Mai 50290 Thailand. (e-mail: nachawit@gmail.com). distribution, intensity, duration, and frequency [6]. This means the risk of severe floods, flash floods and flood disasters may increase which could increase the living and housing damage problems of low-income people. Many government agencies and private organizations have studied flood resilient housing techniques but modern technology may be required with high investment. However, this may not align with residents’ lifestyles, social needs and occupations and may lead to unaffordable and unsuitable flood resilient housing [7]. In addition, assistance from government authorities has not reached all flood victims, and as such, some of them still suffer from floods. Therefore, transferring knowledge of housing improvements to apply to the low- income people’s houses becomes the most sustainable and effective aid, but the knowledge for housing improvement [8] should be based on flood characteristics, affordability, and household problems during floods, and residents’ behavior [9]. However, residents have tried to prevent and tackle the flood problems themselves using various methods under the economic and housing restrictions that exist. It is interesting how they improved their housing and what the results were. Surprisingly, little attention has been paid within the literature to understanding the ongoing processes of self-help methods that poor people use for improving their houses after floods, particularly of urban slum dwellers. Therefore, this paper addresses this deficiency through an examination of individual adaptation strategies employed by people living in three urban low-income settlements of Chiang Mai, Thailand, which are Bansanku, Samukeepattana and Kampangam. The residents in the three low-income settlements are regularly exposed to flooding from heavy rainfall and vulnerable locations. This study aims to determine the methods which low-income people in urban low-income settlements used for improving their flood-damaged houses. The individual initiative and self- help mitigation and redistribution practices under different limitations, which were used to prepare house and recover it from floods, should be studied. The research results can be used for suitable implementation of affordable flood resilient housing knowledge, which benefits various audiences including poor people, designers, construction industry, and government. II. METHODOLOGY Three low-income settlements i.e. Bansanku (21 households), Samugkeepattana (64 households) and Kampangam (61 households) were selected for this study, as shown in Fig. 1. These low-income settlements were over 10 years old with more than 20 households in each settlement and Self-Help Adaptation to Flooding in Low-Income Settlements in Chiang Mai, Thailand Nachawit Tikul L World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology International Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Vol:11, No:2, 2017 130 International Scholarly and Scientific Research & Innovation 11(2) 2017 ISNI:0000000091950263 Open Science Index, Civil and Environmental Engineering Vol:11, No:2, 2017 publications.waset.org/10006345/pdf