Hotel faces demolition after court verdict

A newly completed hotel in Soi Ruamrudee may have to be demolished following a landmark verdict by the Central Administrative Court yesterday.

The court ruling said that highrises in Soi Ruamrudee had been built illegally as the soi is not 10 metres wide as claimed by a former Bangkok governor and a former Pathum Wan district chief, who approved the construction.

The verdict followed a petition by the Foundation for Consumers volunteer lawyer Chalermphong Klabdee, who represented 24 Ruamrudee residents - including Royal Household Bureau's Deputy Lord Chamberlain Khwankeo Vajarodaya - against the then Bangkok governor and then Pathum Wan district chief for allowing Tabtimtorn and Lapprathan companies to construct the highrises on Soi Ruamrudee.

Both companies are currently operating The Aetas Hotel inside those buildings.

Chalerm said the Bangkok governor and Pathum Wan district chief were obliged to enforce the demolition within 60 days if the complainants demanded it.

Several tall buildings were constructed in or near Soi Ruamrudee before and during 2004 with approvals from the Pathum Wan district chief, who said the soi was wider than 10 metres and could accommodate tall structures.

The construction of many buildings continued even after the residents lodged a joint petition with the Foundation for Consumers, which took the complaint to court in September 2008.

"A recently built luxury hotel is already in service and it is too late to be modified," he said. "The [incumbent] Bangkok governor or the [Pathum Wan] district chief are obliged to order the owners of the hotel to partly or wholly demolish it as the court ordered.

"The district office is authorised to seek a court order for detention of the property owners if they fail to abide by the verdict within the deadline, with the owners, architects, designers, foremen bearing the cost," he explained.

For more than 15 years, contractors and construction firms relied on the district office's false certification that the soi was wider than 10 metres to build many highrises in or near the soi. A testimony and a survey during the trial had proved that it was narrower than 10 metres.

BMA officials and operators of The Aetas Hotel vowed to appeal against the verdict.