The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has asked City Hall to halt the eviction of Mahakan Fort residents while legal experts introduce ways to amend the decree of expropriation issued for the community in 1992.
NHRC member Tuenjai Deetes, who chairs a sub-panel on community rights, yesterday called for the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) to revise its land reclamation decree, allowing residents to stay in their original houses and preserve the community's cultural heritage.
"Communities and heritage sites can co-habit," she said, adding it would not prevent the BMA from turning part of the land into a public park as it intends.
As city officials maintained they could not go back on their eviction orders, arguing it would violate the BMA's own decree and a Council of State decision which supported the community's displacement, Ms Tuenjai suggested a three-month timeframe be introduced, during which a legal team will examine how they should alter the regulation.
Such a revision is feasible, according to an NHRC source who asked not to be named. While revoking the decree will prove a lengthy and messy process with several families having already accepted compensation from the BMA and moved out, it is possible to alter the purpose for the land reclamation, the source said.
The original decree says a five-rai plot should be reclaimed for City Hall to turn into a public park. The BMA could instead turn the land into a "living museum", the source argued.
Community members could also be appointed as official guardians of the old town landmark, he added, as has been done in national parks and protected areas.
Meanwhile, a second working committee comprising scholars and members of the Mahakan Fort community will work on certifying their historic ties to the area. Fifty-six families still live behind the fort's walls in wooden houses, some of which can be traced back to the early Rattanakosin era.
While City Hall argued the area's current residents are not part of the community originally established there, several academics have made a case for preserving their lifestyle.
By proving their century-old ties to the fort and family history, community members will be able to face questions as to why they reside there, the NHRC source added. It will also give them more weight to negotiate with the BMA.
Respected anthropologist Srisakra Vallibhotama deplored the way City Hall was handling re-development in Bangkok's old town. Officials do not understand the meaning and significance of communities, he said.
"Laws, decrees, these can all be altered. But communities, if forced out, will be lost forever."
The community last month proposed a "Mahakan Model" in which residents co-exist with the heritage site. They would live on one tenth of the plot and turn the community into a living museum, opening certain parts for public use.
However, deputy Bangkok governor Asawin Kwanmuang was adamant the city will go ahead with the 22-year-old plan, citing a cabinet resolution on May 26 that gave the green light to City Hall to evict the community and turn the area into a park.
He said City Hall was ready to revise the project only if the NHRC could invalidate the royal decree.
The BMA will put up a sign next Monday, explaining the need to go ahead with the plan.
The first 12 houses whose owners have agreed to move out will be bulldozed starting Sept 3.
Mr Asawin warned remaining residents to move out as no one will be allowed to live in the heritage site. Preparing the space for the new park will have to be done by the end of this year.