UK government asked to return conservation award for demolition of former embassy building

 

(Photo) The British Embassy Bangkok, March 2019 (Kridtidej Sawangcharoen)/ https://history.blog.gov.uk/2019/04/15/the-british-embassy-bangkok-a-look-back-before-moving-on/

 

The Association of Siamese Architects (ASA) has decided to recall the Award for Outstanding Conservation of Architectural Arts from the British Embassy in Bangkok for the demolition of the former embassy building.

 

The ASA has also demanded the return of the award plaque, which was presented in 1984.

 

In a statement issued on Friday, the ASA said that the British Embassy building was being demolished without any regard to the historical and architectural value of the building.

 

Full story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/uk-government-asked-to-return-conservation-award-for-demolition-of-former-embassy-building/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2019-08-24

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Childish!  how  about the govt returns  that plaque  they secretly  moved in the night for democracy

It was the developer not the UK Government that demolished the building so take it up with them , once the building was sold they are responsible for all actions taken .

12 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

The ASA has also demanded the return of the award plaque, which was presented in 1984.

sorry we sold that on Ebay. Tight for cash these days.

Money matters, nothing else, why get excited about this?

35 minutes ago, keith101 said:

It was the developer not the UK Government that demolished the building so take it up with them , once the building was sold they are responsible for all actions taken .

Gee sell the Embassy to a shopping mall developer.....And the British hands are clean now because they had no idea a shopping mall would be built...lol......YAWN.......

Edited August 24, 20196 yr by fforest1

15 minutes ago, Nip said:

Some day in the future you will be embarrassed at least you should be embarrassed by such a crass and ill informed comment. I suggest you are also a Brexiter? 

'Ill informed' would seem to be in t'other direction ????

Edited August 24, 20196 yr by evadgib

Quote

UK government asked to return conservation award for demolition of former embassy building

...and everyone in the UK was put on suicide watch

I propose that all Britons in Thailand club together to pay for a new plaque. 

 

It can go where the embassy once stood with the inscription:

 

"British Embassy woz 'ere. We did <deleted> all for anybody".

 

Rooster

 

 

They should look to their own laws. What allows this to happen?  planning permission etc.

BTW I understand that the Union Jack will be flown at half mast and black armbands issued. The UK government will be issuing their own plaque to the ASA:

Outstanding Conservation of Architectural Farts

35 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

The ASA has also demanded the return of the award plaque, which was presented in 1984.

 

1984    ????

 

Take a number, get in line ... anything metal will react to the detectors .... so put it in the bag.  

 

What is the purpose of your visit?

 

 

 

 

52 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

the ASA said that the British Embassy building was being demolished without any regard to the historical and architectural value of the building.

Just to set the record straight: It was Central Group that bought the land from the Brits and demolished the building so yet another superfluous luxury department store can be built. In this context, it was a THAI COMPANY that had no regard for "the historical and architectural value of the building."

 

The Brits conserved and maintained the building while it was still their property. The Thais didn't. Recalling the award is unwarranted. And the Thai Fine Arts Department FAILED to declare the building as national heritage, thus protecting it. 

 

Of course there's not a single word as to who is actually responsible for the demolition.  

58 minutes ago, Chazar said:

Childish!  how  about the govt returns  that plaque  they secretly  moved in the night for democracy

But it is all about losing face.  It remains true that the City of Bangkok has complete disregard for their heritage.  Have a look at Hanoi and you will see how important it is for Vietnam to preserve historical sites. 

It was not the U.k Government that demolished the building they sold it to a Thai development company who have sine demolished such a beautiful building to make way for another ugly shopping mall.   ☹️☹️☹️  

A troll post and all the relies have been removed

11 minutes ago, crazykopite said:

It was not the U.k Government that demolished the building they sold it to a Thai development company who have sine demolished such a beautiful building to make way for another ugly shopping mall.   ☹️☹️☹️  

"...who have sine demolished such a beautiful building to make way for another ugly shopping mall".

The beauty of the Embassy's buildings hardly matters as they could never be seen by anyone except Embassy staff.

Edited August 24, 20196 yr by Just Weird

1 hour ago, rooster59 said:

UK government asked to return conservation award for demolition of former embassy building. 

Don't you mean "after" the demolition of the building...not "for" the demolition of the building?

54 minutes ago, evadgib said:

'Ill informed' would seem to be in t'other direction ????

Elaborate please.

Edited August 24, 20196 yr by Benmart

Glad to see many TVF posters immediately coming to the UK defense.

1 hour ago, fforest1 said:

Gee sell the Embassy to a shopping mall developer.....And the British hands are clean now because they had no idea a shopping mall would be built...lol......YAWN.......

No, adequate planning regulations will ensure the site is developed properly!! If they don't exist here, who's fault is that?

6 minutes ago, evadgib said:

You're no doubt forgetting that a film about the Tsunami starring (among others) Hugh Bonneville was filmed on location including inside the Embassy & Ambassadors residence; & more recently an FCO fly-on-the-wall documentary did same.

You're no doubt forgetting that the views of the Embassy, then, can be seen in perpetuity that way. 

 

Even though they may have been preserved on film or photograph, that does not alter the accuracy of my comment; no one could ever view them directly so their beauty was academic for most people.

Edited August 24, 20196 yr by Just Weird

My guess is they are ticked off; because, that was probably one of the few buildings in Bkk not built to Thai building code; and, it could definitely withstand any kind of natural disaster without crumbling to the ground.  

Edited August 24, 20196 yr by kensisaket

What you need to remember is that the Brits never paid for the land in the first place.

It was bequethed  to them & that makes it a pure case of greed by the Foreign Office of the UK

Personally I think it is shameful

35 minutes ago, stevenl said:

Glad to see many TVF posters immediately coming to the UK defense.

Isnt nationalism a great thing. Its not as if the Brits did not know what would happen when they sold the building. Its a shared Thai / Brit thing.  

It was sold to a Thai develope, I believe to build a shopping mall. 

So it does  not belong to Britain. Ask the company that demolished it and took everything out.

     Just ridiculous.  If they wanted the buildings preserved it was up to the Thai government to protect them from development.  Don't go crying to Britain now that it's too late.  Hopefully, this has taught you a hard lesson and you'll look around at what else should be preserved and protect it--but likely not.  This will probably just be repeated--wringing of hands after something is demolished.  And, yes, there are ways of developing a historic site while preserving important buildings, working around them, and repurposing them. 

It is very easy for these fools to criticize foreigners. It is very difficult to look within, for the source of the problem, and take some responsibility. Blame the foreigners. How boring is that getting? 

1 hour ago, Misterwhisper said:

Of course there's not a single word as to who is actually responsible for the demolition.  

 

"Tos Chirathivat, chief executive of Central group, earlier said the group wanted to build a mixed-use development that links to the Central Embassy shopping project."

 

 

A bunch of Thai architects complaining to the UK about what a Thai developer did to a building the developer now owns.   Makes sense but only in Thailand.

2 hours ago, fforest1 said:

Gee sell the Embassy to a shopping mall developer.....And the British hands are clean now because they had no idea a shopping mall would be built...lol......YAWN.......

Typical, they can do no wrong on their own eyes.