Problems commonly faced by Bangkokians living in small alleys in Bangkok include the lack of footpaths, danger and vibration caused by running lorries and big buses, and the mushrooming of high-rise buildings. To me and my relatives, we encounter most of these problems.
A few years ago, I was almost hit by a pickup which struck my luggage instead while I was walking on my soi which has no walkway. Every night, my house was shaken by the passing buses and lorries. However, my neighbourhood survived the emergence of over-eight-storey buildings since my soi is narrower than 10m.
However, my aunts and cousins who live on two small sois in the middle of Sukhumvit are not so lucky. They have been living in these two-lane alleys for over half-a-century since the area was lush green and peaceful. Decades later, condos, commercial buildings and shopping malls mushroomed around their houses. Their alleys have dead ends and are quite narrow when compared to the increasing number of condos and vehicles used by condo dwellers.
In front of their sois is a 30-storey condo and in the middle of the alley stands a 20-storey one. Mushrooming high-rises mean more people and vehicles, leading to traffic jam. During rush hours, long queues of vehicles barely move for 20-30 minutes.
Last year, a worse nightmare came to the neighbourhood. A new 30-storey or 129m-tall condo project with over 250 rooms and parking lots for almost 200 vehicles popped up on a 2 rai plot of land sandwiched by their two alleys. According to one of my cousins, a lot of big trees that were 40-50 years old in the area were allegedly cut down before an environmental impact assessment study was done, meaning that the project developer could allegedly claim they received an empty land plot and had no need to compensate for effects from cutting the trees.
The neighbours complain that 200 more vehicles would mean much worse traffic congestion and more difficulties for those living near the ends of the alleys to get out by car. They would have to walk or ride bicycles instead. Unfortunately, the elderly and ailing people will be badly affected if ambulances or cars are unable to enter and leave the alleys fast enough
The neighbours have questioned why this high-rise was allowed between the two small sois. The answer is a legal loophole. According to the 33rd ministerial regulation under the Building Control Act of 1979, buildings taller than 23m are not permitted in alleys narrower than 10m.
According to the 55th ministerial rule under the same law, any buildings with total space of 30,000m² and more must not be constructed along public roads narrower than 18m.
Nonetheless, this developer said the first alley is 12m wide although the real road surface is just 4.5m wide and the rest is a row of big trees planted by the neighbours a long time ago. The second soi is less than 8m wide. Interestingly and brilliantly, the new condo was allegedly designed to have a total space of 29,000-something square metres so that it can be built in the first alley.
To call for justice, the residents of the houses in both alleys are joining forces to file a lawsuit at the Central Administrative Court to nullify the new condo project. They follow the footsteps of 24 Soi Ruamrudee dwellers who won the suit against the Bangkok governor and the Pathum Wan district chief in 2016 for permitting the construction of a hotel and serviced apartment taller than 23m in their soi which is narrower than 10m.
The legal battle lasted for six years since the beginning in 2008 because the building owner and the city also appealed to the court. The city was finally defeated and ordered by the court to have the high-rise dismantled at the cost of the building owner.
The court ruling sets a precedent for other people in similar cases. Several other buildings taller than 23m or eight storeys in under-10m-wide alleys are feared to have the same fate. The removal of the building in Soi Ruamrudee is yet to be done while the district office has forbidden the use of the building since Oct 30 last year.
Despite poor law enforcement, the court ruling is the light at the end of the tunnel for those affected by threats of high-rise buildings against their peaceful living. Other solutions should be stricter anti-graft measures as well as amendments to the building control law and regulations in order to mend as many as loopholes as possible.
Pichaya Svasti is a travel writer for Life section, The Bangkok Post.