Southeast Asia Program
Food Streets as Catalysts for Urban Development: Insights from Bangkok
December 9, 2024
12:00 pm
Sibley Hall, 208
Join us for a talk with Cornell alums Sutee Anantsuksomsri, PhD and Nij Tontisirin, PhD where they discuss the role of street food in Bangkok's identity and development.
This talk will take place in Sibley Hall 208 on Monday, Decmeber 9 from 12:00pm to 2:30pm. The talk will be followed by lunch and a Q&A.
About the Talk
Street food has long been a defining element of Bangkok’s urban landscape, playing an essential role in both the city’s culinary identity and its socio-economic development. This study explores how food streets act as catalysts for urban development through an analysis of three significant streets in Bangkok: Yaowarat Road, Pracharajbumpen Road, and Bantadthong Road. Each street reflects unique narratives of cultural heritage, globalization, and urban transformation. Yaowarat Road, known as Chinatown, has been a center of Chinese heritage for over a century. The area’s vibrant food scene is deeply rooted in the traditions of local families who have lived and worked there for generations. This cultural legacy has set Yaowarat’s status as a landmark of historical and culinary significance in Bangkok, drawing both locals and tourists alike. In contrast, Pracharajbumpen Road showcases the effects of recent migration and international investment. The emergence of numerous Chinese restaurants, mainly operated by investors from Mainland China, signifies a shift in the area's character. This influx of new flavors and economic opportunities has transformed the urban dynamics, bringing fresh vibrancy to the street. Bantadthong Road* serves as an example of the intersection between local popularity and global tourism. Once a quieter area, it has now become a bustling food hub, attracting attention from both Thai locals and Chinese tourists. The growth of Chinese-owned establishments underscores the increasing impact of international investment on Bangkok’s food culture and urban environment. By examining these three streets, this study illustrates how food streets function as reflections of broader urban processes. They showcase cultural exchange, economic shifts, and the complexities of globalization, emphasizing the transformative role of food streets in shaping Bangkok’s urban identity and future development.
* This research on Bantadthong Road is part of a collaborative project between the presenters and respondent, supported by a Chulalongkorn University-Cornell University Global Hubs Seed Grant. The project focuses on using urban modeling tools to analyze and guide the neighborhood’s rapid transformation, providing insights into the dynamics of urban change and development in Bangkok.
About the Speakers
Sutee Anantsuksomsri, PhD
Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Architecture, Chulalongkorn University
Associate Professor of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Faculty of Architecture, Chulalongkorn University
President of Thailand Section of Regional Science International
The Diversity and Inclusion Committee for the Regional Science Association International
Sutee Anantsuksomsri is an associate professor in the Department of Urban Regional Planning at Chulalongkorn University, where he also serves as the deputy dean of the Faculty of Architecture. He is also the head of the Center of Excellence in Regional, Urban, & Built Environmental Analytics at Chulalongkorn University. He specializes in urban economics, regional and urban development, complex systems, resilient cities, and geoinformatics. Anantsuksomsri has received grants from organizations such as Thailand Science Research and Innovation, the Sumitomo Foundation, ADPC, SERVIR, NASA, and USAID to support his research. He has served as the editor-in-chief of Nakhara: Journal of Environmental Design and Planning (indexed in Scopus Q1) and is a member of the editorial boards of several academic journals. He has also served as an expert on the National Smart City Committee and has worked as a consultant for national and international organizations such as the Eastern Economic Corridor Office of Thailand and the Asian Development Bank.
Anantsuksomsri has previously held teaching positions at Cornell University and Waseda University. He holds a PhD and Master of Arts in regional science from Cornell University, a Master of Science in construction management from Northeastern University, and a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from Chulalongkorn University. He is the president of the Thailand Section of Regional Science International and a council member of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee for the Regional Science Association International.
Nij Tontisirin, PhD
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Architecture and Planning, Thammasat University, Thailand
Chair, Program in Urban Environmental Planning and Development, Faculty of Architecture and Planning, Thammasat University, Thailand
Nij Tontisirin is an associate professor of urban planning and the chair of the Program in Urban Environmental Planning and Development at Thammasat University Faculty of Architecture and Planning. Her academic expertise includes regional science, urban and regional economics, infrastructure development, land use changes, and climate risk assessment, particularly in Thailand’s Eastern Economic Corridor. Her work bridges academia and practice, with significant contributions to policy development and urban planning.
She holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in Regional Science from Cornell University, a Master in Urban Planning from Harvard University, and a Bachelor in Architecture (First Class Honor) from Chulalongkorn University.
Additional Information
Program
Southeast Asia Program
Einaudi Center for International Studies
Postdoctoral Associate Opportunities with SEAP
Two positions available
The Southeast Asia Program (SEAP) at Cornell University invites applications for two separate two-year Postdoctoral Associate appointments, each awarded for the two-year period beginning between July 1 and September 1, 2025. Each position offers a stipend of $62,000-$65,000/year, depending on candidate experience.
Candidates should apply for only one of these two positions, and will not be considered for both. The deadline for both postdoctoral appointments is January 15, 2025. For the purposes of these postdoctoral appointments, SEAP considers the countries of Southeast Asia to include Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar, Brunei, East Timor, and Singapore. The most competitive candidates will have proficiency in one (or more) Southeast Asian language(s) and demonstrated ability to work collaboratively in multidisciplinary contexts. We strongly encourage scholars from Southeast Asia and underrepresented scholars who have been historically and structurally excluded from research and funding opportunities to apply.
Questions about either position can be directed to tf14@cornell.edu.
Southeast Asian Qualitative Social Sciences
We are seeking an independent and highly motivated social scientist with fieldwork and area expertise on one or more Southeast Asian countries. Scholars from a range of fields including geography, anthropology, sociology, data/information science, public and ecosystem health, planning, political science, and environmental social science are encouraged to apply. We especially welcome someone able to work across disciplinary boundaries and is interested in the intersections between research, public engagement, and policy making in the Southeast Asian context.
Southeast Asian Environmental Humanities
Potential topics may include and are not limited to humanistic or qualitative research approaches to climate breakdown, biodiversity, human-animal relations, plantations, environmental justice, commodity chains, extraction, and the cultural politics of food as they relate to Southeast Asia and/or Southeast Asian diasporas. We especially welcome applicants with PhDs in the humanities, interpretive social sciences such as anthropology, or interdisciplinary degrees such as religious studies, Southeast Asian studies, ethnic studies, feminist studies, or science and technology studies.
Additional Information
Program
Southeast Asian Qualitative Social Sciences Postdoctoral Associate
Details
We are seeking an independent and highly motivated social scientist with fieldwork and area expertise on one or more Southeast Asian countries. Scholars from a range of fields including geography, anthropology, sociology, data/information science, public and ecosystem health, planning, political science, and environmental social science are encouraged to apply. We especially welcome someone able to work across disciplinary boundaries and is interested in the intersections between research, public engagement, and policy making in the Southeast Asian context.
Additional Information
Southeast Asian Environmental Humanities Postdoctoral Associate
Details
Potential topics may include and are not limited to humanistic or qualitative research approaches to climate breakdown, biodiversity, human-animal relations, plantations, environmental justice, commodity chains, extraction, and the cultural politics of food as they relate to Southeast Asia and/or Southeast Asian diasporas. We especially welcome applicants with PhDs in the humanities, interpretive social sciences such as anthropology, or interdisciplinary degrees such as religious studies, Southeast Asian studies, ethnic studies, feminist studies, or science and technology studies.
Additional Information
The 27th Cornell SEAP Graduate Student Conference: Mobility
Deadline extended to December 7
How is Southeast Asia animated and made to move? Who crosses boundaries, who stays still, and what jams, messes, conscriptions, and inscriptions are we bound to? Resisting both dreams of frictionless passage and fantasies of fixed origins, the theme of the 27th SEAP Graduate Student Conference waves in reflections on mobility and its constraints. We await explorations of that which is trans (-national, -Pacific, -imperial, -gressive) or in trans (-ition, -mission, -lation). We welcome interrogations on that which is mobile yet clandestine, unintended, or interrupted. What kinetic energies are released by diasporas in seeds, chemicals, finances, and tastes? What constitutes the motion in activist, insurgent, protest, or resistance movements, and who moves against the movers? What disturbed temporalities, what uncertain spatialities, what contingent choreographies are produced by the travel of soldiers, pollutants, scientists, viruses, and images of young hippos in Thai zoos? Moo Deng and we invite submissions which agitate stagnant pools of nationality and syncopate staid rhythms of history. Viewing the academy itself as a site of stupor, we also welcome scholarship which unsettles the heavy dust of area studies.
Additional Information
Eve Devillers
Graduate Student
Degree Pursued: PhD
Anticipated Degree Year: 2031
Primary Language: Indonesian
Research Countries: Indonesia
Research Interests: Natural resource governance, energy transitions, food commoning, land and resource grabbing
Additional Information
Junior Resident Fellows Program: Summer in Cambodia
Engage in advanced research and cultural exchange in Cambodia with the Junior Resident Fellows Program.
Each summer, the Center for Khmer Studies (CKS) offers five U.S., five Cambodian, and five French undergraduate students and recent graduates the exciting opportunity to participate in our six-week Junior Resident Fellows Program in Cambodia. Fellows are based at the CKS campus in Siem Reap, situated on the historic grounds of Wat Damnak – one of the city’s major Buddhist pagodas – and mere minutes away from the world-renowned Angkor Wat temple complex. Fellows also spend time in Cambodia’s bustling capital city, Phnom Penh.
CKS covers the cost of tuition, accommodation (bed and breakfast), local transportation during program activities, books, study materials, and some field trip expenses, such as entrance fees to historical and cultural sites. CKS also has small program grants of between US$600 and US$800 available to offset the cost of international airfare, visas, and medical insurance. All other living and personal expenses will be incurred by the individual Fellows.
Application Deadline
Application details for the Junior Resident Fellows Program 2026 are to be determined.
Specific dates and details regarding the application can be found on this page.
Stay Connected for Updates
More details about the program are available on the CKS website, and make sure you have subscribed to the SEAP listserv to receive the latest updates on deadlines for study abroad applications and funding deadlines.
Additional Information
Southeast Asian Summer Studies Institute (SEASSI)
Applications open for Summer 2025
We are happy to announce that the Southeast Asian Studies Summer Institute (SEASSI) applications for Summer 2025 are open!
Additional Information
EMI Conference 2025
November 7, 2025
10:00 am
Cornell Tech, TBD
Save the Date!
Additional Information
Program
Einaudi Center for International Studies
Southeast Asia Program
Latin American and Caribbean Studies
South Asia Program
Cornell Gamelan Ensemble with Wakidi Dwidjomartono
December 10, 2024
3:00 pm
Lincoln Hall, B20
Master Javanese gamelan musician Wakidi Dwidjomartono joins the Cornell Gamelan Ensemble and students taking Gamelan in Indonesian History and Cultures for a program of traditional Javanese gendhing.
Additional Information
Program
Einaudi Center for International Studies
Southeast Asia Program