Court asked to halt Doi Suthep building

By THE NATION

 

The Doi Suthep Forest Reclamation Network unfurls a sign reading “No Man’s Land” yesterday at the foot of Chiang Mai’s Doi Suthep mountain.

 

THE DOI SUTHEP Forest Reclamation Network will today ask the Court of Appeals Region 5 to stop the ongoing construction at the controversial site that is now labelled “No Man’s Land”.
 

“We will give the court 10 days to respond,” the network’s co-ordinator Teerasak Rupsuwan said yesterday. “Without positive response, we will also stage a big rally on June 30.”

 

The network also demanded the eviction of 30 families who had lately moved in to what is supposed to be an uninhabited area. 

The controversial site sits at the foot of Chiang Mai’s Doi Suthep mountain, whereby structures that were initially designated as court officials’ residences are being built. 

 

 

Many families had reportedly moved in and were living in the structures despite the controversy. 

 

After locals and environmentalists led a high-profile campaign strongly opposing building on the site to accommodate court officials and called for returning the site to the forest, the government publicly stated that court officials will get a new location for their residences.

 

Yet, the Doi Suthep Forest Reclamation Network remains worried after witnessing the continuing construction on the site and the many families moving in to live in the zone. 

 

 

The group is demanding the eviction of 30 families who recently moved into the homes. It wants the Courts of Justice to stop ongoing construction and immediately return 45 houses and nine flats in the estate to the Treasury Department, Teerasak said. The estate has 13 flat buildings and 45 houses and an administrative office building for Court of Appeals Region 5.

 

The government in early May brokered an agreement for a portion of the property to be handed over to the Treasury Department before being reforested and returned to Doi Suthep-Pui National Park. The deal allowed for the office building and four flat buildings to remain.

 

The network was waiting until a June 18 deadline for the contractor to sign over the last phase of the project to the court so the hand-over could begin. But reports of 30 families moving in since April – plus a rumour that the contractor might miss the deadline – prompted concern that the court might ignore the order.

 

PM’s Office Minister Suwaphan Tanyuvardhana, the government’s mediator in the dispute, on Sunday sent his secretary, Thaworn Phrommeechai, and other members of the central committee to inspect the site along with a Chiang Mai-based sub-panel.

 

Suwaphan urged both sides to think of “the common good”, to be understanding of each other, and to have a positive and non-hostile viewpoint. 

 

“We should proceed with what can be done in the short term while both sides discuss mid-term and long-term solutions based on the law, academic |studies, the facts of the locality and other factors,” Suwaphan said.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30348056

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-06-19

This is all about certain connected people getting luxury housing provided by the state, it has FA to do with anything else...………...a government budget payed for this development and therefore tax payers 

 

 

The sad thing about it is that if the area is flattened the money will have already been spent

59 minutes ago, webfact said:

THE DOI SUTHEP Forest Reclamation Network will today ask the Court of Appeals Region 5 to stop the ongoing construction at the controversial site that is now labelled “No Man’s Land”.

I wonder who the judges are that sit on the bench of the Court of Appeal? If it happens to be judges other than the ones who live in the houses I am sure they will look after their mates in a traditional Thai judicial manner.

If it is the judges who live in those houses then the ruling will come as no surprise to anyone.

 

 

Going to be interesting to see how this eventuates but I have my reservations what the outcome will be ! Best of luck to the protesters 

8 hours ago, webfact said:

THE DOI SUTHEP Forest Reclamation Network will today ask the Court of Appeals Region 5 to stop the ongoing construction

Why ask?

That allows a "flexible" response, ie., without legal consequences, or no response whatsoever.

Petition The Ombudsman to request a court hearing. Force a legal response.

The court will likely reject the petition but it will have to at least create some legal explanation.

May as well rename it 'Rich Mans Land' because they are the people who will live in it and will never move out !

Where are the skunks when they are so needed. Perfume the houses with their

lovely scent and see if it is worse than the Judges and their families.