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Since the turn of the 2000s, urban enclaves made up of rows of corrugated iron barracks have occupied temporarily vacant real estate sites in the city center of Bangkok. They have in common the characteristic of being managed by construction groups and of housing unskilled labor, mainly from the countries bordering Thailand. In these apparently very common enclaves, the residents’ posture of avoidance differs from the modes of social recomposition observed in refugee camps, in the housing estates near industrial zones, and in the slums or other places where exile workers find accommodation. The opportunity of securing a job on a construction site is contingent on a set of rules. In particular, the “one contract = one job = one person” rule turns out to be an obstacle to any form of family reunification or community membership. In these urban enclaves, a return to normality is not an option, and this is undoubtedly their most tragic specificity.