Any resolution to Ashton Asoke condominium's legal tussle rests with three applicable sections of a related law, according to the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA).
Deputy Bangkok governor Wisanu Subsompon outlined Sections 40, 41 and 42 of the Buildings Control Act 1979, which apply to the Ashton condo saga.
One of the sections may hold the key to saving the condo from being demolished following last Thursday's ruling by the Supreme Administrative Court retroactively invalidating Ashton Asoke's construction permit granted to the already finished 6-billion-baht condo project in Watthana district.
Section 40 authorises relevant officials to suspend the use of or bar unauthorised personnel's access to a building which has been constructed, modified, demolished or relocated in violation of the act.
Section 41, however, allows for an owner of a building ruled to have defied Section 40 to rectify the situation by taking steps to obtain a needed permit within a specified, extendable deadline. Mr Wisanu said on Saturday that the owner of the luxury Ashton Asoke project may resubmit a request for a construction permit with the BMA, provided it has a clear plan to address the entrance problem.
He said the BMA will allow the project owner time to resubmit their request on the condition that it must have at least one entrance of at least 12 metres wide connected to a public road of 18 metres in width, as per the ruling.
Ashton Asoke's main entrance joins with Asoke Road. However, part of the entrance space belongs to the Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand (MRTA), which expropriated the land to build an underground train station entrance right on the project's doorstep.
The MRTA space cannot be counted as Ashton Asoke's land, which means the requirement for at least one 12m-wide entrance cannot be met.
Mr Wisanu said on Monday that Ashton Asoke's legal wrangle also involves Section 42 of the Buildings Control Act.
The section stipulates that related authorities may order a dismantling of the building in whole or in part if no action is taken or the building owner refuses to rectify the problem.
The BMA's Department of Public Works has written to the Watthana district office instructing it to order the Ashton Asoke project owner to address the building issue under the act.
On Monday, Mr Wisanu indicated that if rectification under Section 41 failed, the BMA would be left with the option of enforcing Section 42, which would likely seal the fate of the project.