Civil lawsuits lodged for refunds, compensation over troubled Waterfront project in Pattaya

[snoop1130]

Civil lawsuits lodged for refunds, compensation over troubled Waterfront project in Pattaya

By Theerawat Thongma, 
Dethawee Theewarangkool 
The Nation

 

 

The owner of the Waterfront luxury condominium project in Chon Buri’s Bang Lamung district is being hit with two civil lawsuits lodged with Pattaya Provincial Court for a combined Bt100 million in refunds and compensation, a lawyer representing 20 buyers of the condo units said on Tuesday.

 

The buyers are represented in these cases by Chalermwat Wimuktayon, the founder of Magna Carta Law Office. 

 

Besides the two suits, which are based on consumer-protection law, another group of damaged persons have consulted about suing state agencies that had the duty to supervise and check on the project but allegedly made a mistake that resulted in damages to consumers, said Panthawat Pimsakul, another Magna Carta lawyer. 

 

Two state agencies have been identified as the possible guilty parties in this regard, he said, adding that this third lawsuit would be submitted to a court by December.

 

Chalermwat and Panthawat are acting on behalf of 20 buyers who were affected because the project owner was unable to hand over or transfer to them the rights over condominium units as per the contracts they had signed. 

 

The project remains in the under-construction stage because Pattaya City halted its construction pending probes into alleged violation of the Building Control Act, after it was initially found that the project design was different from the one the authority had approved – and there was also an accusation of public-land encroachment.

 

The Waterfront luxury condo project had passed the required environment impact assessment and received a green light from Pattaya City to commence construction in September 2008. 

 

However, local activists in 2014 raised a question over the legitimacy of its construction licence and launched a protest against the 53-storey project near Bali Hai Pier, which allegedly blocks the ocean view from the famous Phra Tamnak Hill.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30358460

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-11-13

[NanLaew]

I've misplaced my program. Can anyone tell me if this is the Third or Fourth Act?

 

Thanks.

[petermik]

Now the fun begins.....next

[smedly]

so who is responsible

 

well the developer for a start plus whoever they bribed to bypass the rules

 

outcome - move on or you might be billed for the cost of demolishing this debacle 

[NanLaew]

I think a former Pattaya mayor approved it but he's no longer in office. The fact that his brother has quite recently been appointed as a political adviser to the p!ss artist formerly known as Commander in Chief and has subsequently been made mayor of Pattaya leads me to conclude that this will all be resolved to everyone's satisfaction quite quickly, including those that bought into this scam units in this development.

 

PS. Any of you wanna toke on what I'm smokin'?

[Media1]

Correct the corrupt authorities and the City of Pattaya are completely accountable for such a icon devrlopmemt site. Not only were they incompetent but also criminal in there dealings. The Thai government must pay period.

[Media1]

6 hours ago, smedly said:

so who is responsible

 

well the developer for a start plus whoever they bribed to bypass the rules

 

outcome - move on or you might be billed for the cost of demolishing this debacle 

it will not be demolished

[Yewbzee]

1 hour ago, Media1 said:

it will not be demolished

Not in the immediate future but it will have to be eventually as the exposed rebar and concrete spalls and kills people wandering past.

 

Even if by some miracle they continued construction who would want to buy into this structure now after exposure to the elements in that unfinished state for several years? 

[scorecard]

1 hour ago, Media1 said:

Correct the corrupt authorities and the City of Pattaya are completely accountable for such a icon devrlopmemt site. Not only were they incompetent but also criminal in there dealings. The Thai government must pay period.

And the developers are lilly white, totally nice folks?

[Ulic]

The one thing I know for certain is the government and officials will not pay. The developers are responsible but they have long since skimmed of the deposits and have fully made their profits. I believe there is now a second developer involved. The problem is where do you go from here and what can be salvaged. There are two outcomes possible as far as I can tell. Neither good for those who bought units. The first is everything is permanently frozen and the building collapses in another 40-60 years. The second is a second developer takes over free an clear and makes changes such as lowering the building height. Not sure what concessions would have to be made by planning officials because as I understand the building is too close to the water. Neither outcome holds any promise for the current condos buyers. 

As far as I can tell these building scams will continue until Thailand brings in a deposit/payment escrow system where developers can borrow against the contracts to purchase but there is no money for them to abscond with. Sales agents and developers don't get paid until the units completed and they are turned over to the buyers in satisfactory condition. I don't see any positive outcome hiring lawyers because the money is long gone and the proverbial you can't squeeze blood from a stone is now in play.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Only in Thailand do you have an article in the newspaper announcing lawsuits against the "owner" of a major, scam, failed condo project where the article doesn't actually name who the owner is and who's being sued.

 

Doesn't mention the development company, doesn't mention who was behind the original development company, doesn't mention what ever has become of them or the deposit/purchase money paid by the buyers, etc etc etc.

 

Edited November 14, 2018 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[johng]

2 hours ago, Yewbzee said:

Not in the immediate future but it will have to be eventually as the exposed rebar and concrete spalls and kills people wandering past.

 

Even if by some miracle they continued construction who would want to buy into this structure now after exposure to the elements in that unfinished state for several years? 

 

Maybe the Norwegian knew something

 

[johng]

20 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

allegedly blocks the ocean view from the famous Phra Tamnak Hill.

[johng]

30 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

where the article doesn't actually name who the owner is and who's being sued.

Yes the draconian,medieval defamation laws are one of the major things that need abolishing if Thailand ever wants to advance its self.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

1 minute ago, johng said:

Yes the draconian,medieval defamation laws are one of the major things that need abolishing if Thailand ever wants to advance its self.

 

I don't think you can be sued, even here, for an attorney announcing he's filed a civil lawsuit against a company.  But maybe I'm wrong about that, considering this is Thailand.

 

But it would be interesting -- a developer who doesn't ostensibly have the money to return deposits and purchase money to his buyers somehow finding money to hire lawyers to file and pursue a defamation lawsuit.

 

[Redline]

I will probably sit there and rot forever, as we see many projects unfinished here-accountability-responsibility -nope wrong place 

[realenglish1]

This is the exact reason you do not buy a condo from plans The best laid plans get cancelled I do nto have enough fingers to count the buildings that are not complete and have been partially standing for more that 5 years

 

There is no other way to describe it If you buy a condo off of plans you are crazy Buy from a built condo at least you know you are going to get it

[Lancashirelad]

9 hours ago, Yewbzee said:

Not in the immediate future but it will have to be eventually as the exposed rebar and concrete spalls and kills people wandering past.

 

Even if by some miracle they continued construction who would want to buy into this structure now after exposure to the elements in that unfinished state for several years? 

In the 2000's after the 1997 Asian Tiger collapse there were several large blackened eerie hulks of uncompleted tall buildings along the banks of the Chao Phraya in Bangkok. They have almost all been completed.  

[KittenKong]

1 hour ago, Lancashirelad said:

In the 2000's after the 1997 Asian Tiger collapse there were several large blackened eerie hulks of uncompleted tall buildings along the banks of the Chao Phraya in Bangkok. They have almost all been completed.  

Dont worry. There are plenty of large blackened eerie unfinished hulks still available in Jomtien.