Public Opinion on Thai Well-being Standard

Abstract

The idea of wellbeing is based on Abraham Maslow theory called “the Hierarchy of Needs” and Martin Seligman theory called “PERMA”. Later the idea was developed into many fields including architecture. In Year 2021, the Thailand Green Building Institute or TGBI issued the SOOK building standard as a design and evaluation criterion for buildings. The standard has five topics: biophilia & neighborhood, architectural design, interior design & materials, environmental system & engineering, and sook innovation. After reviewing it, researcher were skeptical about what public thought of it. Because the concept of wellbeing is subjective, but the standard is very objective. Afterwards researcher studied some materials and blogs and conducted online questionnaires and circulated through several social media platforms, such as Facebook group and Blockdit application. Researcher selected probability sampling by random the questionnaires to members of the group. The purpose of the questionnaires was to understand what people contemplated about the standard and what was essential to them. After 2 months with 122 participants, the poll results showed that 91% knew its benefits, but 56.2% believed that the standard was merely a marketing tool. They merely devoted to general items such as plants, safety, universal design, light, noise, and smell, which could be used as architectural design tools. Even though the standard related to both architectural and engineering design, it pays more attention to engineering systems than to architectural design aspects. So the SOOK standard should be re-evaluated.