When the Supreme Administrative Court ruled that the Aetas Hotel on Soi Ruamrudee had to be demolished, it served up a huge lesson for the real estate developer and for City Hall.
After the Supreme Administrative Court's ruling on Dec 2 in favour of residents, the luxury 24-storey Aetas has to be demolished within 60 days. It is not yet known if further legal action will be taken. Taweechai Tawatpakorn
On Dec 2, the court found in favour of a group of residents who demanded that the luxury 24-storey building, worth about three billion baht, be demolished within 60 days as it had breached ministerial regulations. Under the 33rd announcement of ministerial regulations under the Building Control Act 1979, a building higher than 23 metres — or eight storeys — cannot be built on a road that is less than 10m wide.
The Aetas Hotel saga began in 2008 when a group of residents in the Ruamrudee neighbourhood lodged a complaint against former Pathumwan district chief Surakiat Limcharoen and former Bangkok governor Apirak Kosayodhin alleging negligence of duty for allowing the high-rise residential project to be built despite the fact that the width of Soi Ruamrudee is less than 10m throughout its entire length.
The problem originated in 2005 when Pathumwan district office authorities gave an approval letter, indicating Soi Ruamrudee measured 10m wide (which was based on an old database), to the project contractors, Lappratan Co Ltd and Taptimthorn Co Ltd. These companies later sought construction approval for a building higher than 23m from the Public Works Department (PWD).
The construction of a building is usually approved by the district office; but any building higher than 23m has to be approved by the PWD, which in this case gave the project the green light as it had earlier been approved by the district office.
The Building Control Act 1979 restricts construction to 23 metres, or eight storeys, on roads that are less than 10m wide. PATIPAT JANTHONG
After the PWD's approval for the construction of the project in 2005, Ruamrudee residents lodged a complaint with City Hall and Pathumwan district office. They asked the PWD to re-determine the street's width to see whether it was wide enough to cater for the large volumes of traffic that would be created by the huge residential project.
The PWD then ordered the Pathumwan district office to measure the street again to find out the real width.
After it was re-measured, the Pathumwan district office revealed in 2006 that the width of Soi Ruamrudee was less than 10m, contradicting the measurement indicated in the approval letter based on the old database.
The PWD then submitted a letter to Pathumwan district office, asking it to closely examine the width of Soi Ruamrudee to ensure it would be wide enough to cater to a large number of people.
The department issued warnings to the district office urging it to stop the construction but the office failed to comply. It only notified the hotel owner about the issue after construction was almost complete.
This resulted in the residents filing a complaint against city officials in 2008 for allowing the residential project to be built in breach of the Building Control Act 1979.
The civil court found former Bangkok governor Apirak and former Pathumwan district chief Surakiat guilty of negligence of duty in Feb 9, 2012.
The court ordered the city administration and the Pathumwan district office to demolish the Aetas Hotel within 60 days.
The former Bangkok governor and former Pathumwan district chief then appealed the ruling to the Supreme Administrative Court.
However, the Supreme Court ruling on Dec 2 brought the curtain down on six years of legal battles.
It is turning out to be a tough time for the district officers. They are under threat from the hotel developer who may sue them as they allowed the hotel to be built.
The actual demolition work will not be easy, a source at the city administration who asked not to be named said.
Officials at the PWD and the district office are reluctant to carry out the demolition for fear of being sued by the hotel owner for causing damage to the property, the source said.
The developer will fight its case by claiming the construction documents were approved by the Pathumwan district office, the source said.
If the developer allows the demolition to proceed, it could later sue for business losses as it had invested about three billion baht in the construction of the hotel, exclusive of loss of business opportunities in the future.
That will be a tough issue for the city administration to deal with.
The city administration will set up a panel to investigate the case, which could run for years yet, the source said.
The city administration recently ordered Bangkok deputy governor Sanya Chenimit to set up a panel to work on an action plan in response to the court's ruling.
The panel is made up of representatives of Pathumwan district office, the PWD, the City Law Enforcement Department and the Legal and Litigation Office, the source said.
Suchatvee Suwansawat, president of the Engineering Institute of Thailand, said the case should be a warning to future developers who expect to apply for building permits that there should be transparency.
The case also reflects the value of having a strong community that stands firm and fights for the truth, he said.
Mr Suchatvee also expressed concern over the ethical conduct of state officials, the real estate developer, the architects and the engineers who oversaw the luxury hotel project.
Developers should care more about the public who may be affected by a construction project than their own personal gain, he said.
