Thai police shut down 21 villas on Koh Samui, foreigners evicted

[snoop1130]

 

Police on the picturesque island of Koh Samui swooped and shut down 21 luxury villas that were built illegally on the pristine Khao Ma Ngaen mountain, leaving foreign tenants scrambling to pack their bags.

 

Municipal, military, and ombudsman officials yesterday, September 17, slapped closure notices on the villas, which were among 46 properties constructed without permits. These villas had brazenly encroached on the mountainside in the Bo Phut subdistrict, a popular tourist hub.

 

Three of the 21 villas were occupied by foreign tenants, who were left no choice but to vacate. One of them, a Frenchman running a local cleaning business, had signed a one-year lease and was paying 20,000 baht a month for his slice of paradise.

 

“I had no idea this place was illegal,” he said as he packed his belongings. All tenants cooperated and swiftly vacated the premises.

 

 

 

 

The remaining villas, though empty, were still being advertised as available for lease, luring potential tenants into the same legal mess.

 

Colonel Dusit Kesornkaeo, head of environmental protection at the Internal Security Operations Command, confirmed the crackdown, stating that the villas were ordered closed after no appeals were filed against the original ruling.

 

“These properties had no right to be here.”

 

The 46 villas, including the 21 already closed, were part of a wider illegal development scheme run by three companies, all of which failed to obtain proper building permits, reported Bangkok Post.

 

By Puntid Tantivangphaisal

Photo courtesy of Bangkok Post

 

Source: The Thaiger

-- 2024-09-18
 

 

[johng]

4 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

leaving foreign tenants scrambling to pack their bags.

Ohh dear  I hope the Municipal, military, and ombudsman officials

found some alternative accommodation for the tenants not just turfed them out on the street  otherwise it might have a negative effect on Thailand's image 😋

[ModdaPunk]

Same idiots who bought into the VIP visa package crappy scheme :D :D :D

[impulse]

Luxury mountain villa on a gorgeous island, renting for $600 a month.  I may have signed a lease and risked getting kicked out some time in the future. 

 

Great while it lasted...

 

Edit:  Sucks for any buyers, of course.

 

 

Edited September 18 by impulse

[NativeBob]

20K /month for villa on the slope at Bo Put ?!

In beloved Bangkok you can't get even decent 2 rooms & kitchen flat for less than 25K 

and THIS for 20K only?

[steven100]

hang the developer,   hang the administrator who took bribes to let it go,   and hang anyone else connected who may be responsible for turning a blind eye.

 

rotten to the core this place .... 

[save the frogs]

27 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

leaving foreign tenants scrambling to pack their bags.

fortunately we have 15 "what's in your go bag" threads on AN to help them out.

 

[Kerryd]

Makes you wonder how these kind of projects get built without anyone noticing anything.

Like the city officials or park officials or the local poo yai baan.

Some one must have seen the clearing the land, building the roads, bringing in power poles and water lines, building forty-plus homes.

And then openly advertising them. It doesn't say how long ago they were built but you can bet they didn't just finish yesterday.

Yet apparently no one noticed.

[SAFETY FIRST]

57 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

had signed a one-year lease and was paying 20,000 baht a month for his slice of paradise

Seems cheap, probably should have known it was to good to be true. 

 

[Tropicalevo]

3 minutes ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

Seems cheap, probably should have known it was to good to be true. 

 

For Samui, that is very cheap.

I used to rent out my two bedroom bungalow for 50,000 THB - per month.

[esclub]

54 minutes ago, ModdaPunk said:

Same idiots who bought into the VIP visa package crappy scheme 😄 😄 😄

the one you can't afford so trash? 😄

[oxo1947]

1 hour ago, snoop1130 said:

Police on the picturesque island of Koh Samui swooped and shut down 21 luxury villas that were built illegally

 

So  no one noticed 21 villas being built until the were finished and leased out..........

[Liverpool Lou]

44 minutes ago, NativeBob said:

20K /month for villa on the slope at Bo Put ?!

In beloved Bangkok you can't get even decent 2 rooms & kitchen flat for less than 25K 

and THIS for 20K only?

"20K /month for villa on the slope at Bo Put ?!".

Only because they are illegal!

[Liverpool Lou]

4 minutes ago, oxo1947 said:

 

So  no one noticed 21 villas being built until the were finished and leased out..........

46!

Edited September 18 by Liverpool Lou

[Maitdjai]

19 minutes ago, Tropicalevo said:

For Samui, that is very cheap.

I used to rent out my two bedroom bungalow for 50,000 THB - per month.

Every morning some stupid ones waking up!

The funny thing is, many like to gather on the "pristine" island of Ko Samui. Lol.

Edited September 18 by Maitdjai

[HammerGuy]

1 hour ago, impulse said:

Luxury mountain villa on a gorgeous island, renting for $600 a month.  I may have signed a lease and risked getting kicked out some time in the future. 

 

Great while it lasted...

 

Edit:  Sucks for any buyers, of course.

 

 

Which is why I always lease everything that way all you leave with is your passport & wallet !!

[nakhonandy]

Probably a few more villas on that island are likely to get similar treatment from what I've read lately.

[Patong2021]

4 hours ago, Kerryd said:

Makes you wonder how these kind of projects get built without anyone noticing anything.

Like the city officials or park officials or the local poo yai baan.

Some one must have seen the clearing the land, building the roads, bringing in power poles and water lines, building forty-plus homes.

And then openly advertising them. It doesn't say how long ago they were built but you can bet they didn't just finish yesterday.

Yet apparently no one noticed.

 

Oh, they were noticed and if the Phuket experience with the illegal bars and restaurants on the beach is an indication, it went something like this;

- Locals  notice and inquire and are told,  all is approved, look we have permits.

- Local officials who helped issue permits say they were just doing what they were told to do and tell locals to be quiet.

- Senior officials acting on complaints say stop it, but developer goes to court and wins delay after delay.  Smiling Judge says there must be due process and developer must be heard.

- On and on it goes with land deeds offered up. How could such deeds be  offered they are asked, I don't know, as it was before my time is the reply.

- Meanwhile, developers and promoters are selling and renting the properties.

- Buyers and renters are aware of the issues, but say this is Thailand and it is ok, they can do whatever they want  because they can pay the officials to make it all go away.

And now, surprise, surprise, the deck of cards collapses.

- 

[it is what it is]

4 hours ago, Kerryd said:

Makes you wonder how these kind of projects get built without anyone noticing anything.

Like the city officials or park officials or the local poo yai baan.

Some one must have seen the clearing the land, building the roads, bringing in power poles and water lines, building forty-plus homes.

And then openly advertising them. It doesn't say how long ago they were built but you can bet they didn't just finish yesterday.

Yet apparently no one noticed.

 

Makes you wonder how these kind of projects get built without anyone noticing anything.

 

it does, but then you remember you're in thailand, and it doesn't.

[Jonathan Swift]

10 hours ago, johng said:

Ohh dear  I hope the Municipal, military, and ombudsman officials

found some alternative accommodation for the tenants not just turfed them out on the street  otherwise it might have a negative effect on Thailand's image 😋

Point taken. But people with this much money to spend could surely find some friendly hostel to take them in. 

[RJRS1301]

11 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

 

Police on the picturesque island of Koh Samui swooped and shut down 21 luxury villas that were built illegally on the pristine Khao Ma Ngaen mountain, leaving foreign tenants scrambling to pack their bags.

 

Municipal, military, and ombudsman officials yesterday, September 17, slapped closure notices on the villas, which were among 46 properties constructed without permits. These villas had brazenly encroached on the mountainside in the Bo Phut subdistrict, a popular tourist hub.

 

Three of the 21 villas were occupied by foreign tenants, who were left no choice but to vacate. One of them, a Frenchman running a local cleaning business, had signed a one-year lease and was paying 20,000 baht a month for his slice of paradise.

 

“I had no idea this place was illegal,” he said as he packed his belongings. All tenants cooperated and swiftly vacated the premises.

 

 

 

 

 

The remaining villas, though empty, were still being advertised as available for lease, luring potential tenants into the same legal mess.

 

Colonel Dusit Kesornkaeo, head of environmental protection at the Internal Security Operations Command, confirmed the crackdown, stating that the villas were ordered closed after no appeals were filed against the original ruling.

 

“These properties had no right to be here.”

 

The 46 villas, including the 21 already closed, were part of a wider illegal development scheme run by three companies, all of which failed to obtain proper building permits, reported Bangkok Post.

 

By Puntid Tantivangphaisal

Photo courtesy of Bangkok Post

 

Source: The Thaiger

-- 2024-09-18
 

 

Question, inspectors would have been there during the building process, did they not survey the land, so why were they allowed to be completed?
This smacks of incompetence and corruption 

[cnx101]

French man’s lucky he didn’t buy it

[ryandb]

Damn that's cheap down here now, I was paying around that during Covid for a similar seaview 2 bed apartment, it's now 80k a month!

[waders123]

It's a real shame to see these beautiful villas demolished. Now that the money has been spent and the buildings are completed, it would be a waste to tear them down. Perhaps the villas could be repurposed into something useful, like housing for top government officials.    😋 Just kidding!  That would be wrong.....or would it?

 

Just a thought:  Demolishing the villas without proper slope rehabilitation could indeed increase the risk of landslides, posing a danger to those living below.

[ross163103]

11 hours ago, Kerryd said:

Makes you wonder how these kind of projects get built without anyone noticing anything.

It's Asia, brown envelopes all around makes people go blind. 

[hotchilli]

11 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Municipal, military, and ombudsman officials yesterday, September 17, slapped closure notices on the villas, which were among 46 properties constructed without permits. These villas had brazenly encroached on the mountainside in the Bo Phut subdistrict, a popular tourist hub.

How do these buildings manage to get constructed right under the noses of Island officials, surely someone sees them being built?

[thaibeachlovers]

10 hours ago, Maitdjai said:

Every morning some stupid ones waking up!

The funny thing is, many like to gather on the "pristine" island of Ko Samui. Lol.

Not I. I stopped visiting this century because too many villas like those in the OP had destroyed the island as  place worth visiting.

Typical Thai. Ruin every good beach for greed, pure and simple GREED.

[thaibeachlovers]

4 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

How do these buildings manage to get constructed right under the noses of Island officials, surely someone sees them being built?

See post before yours.

[Theforgotten1]

Good job the netizens are not up in arms because the scenery has been built over illegally, lucky the workers were not seen peeing on the shrubbery 

[Leif Kullberg]

20k for a house at the slopes of Boh Put.
Normal price is at least 50k.
So what will happen ?
Will the authoritys sell them off we a good profit or tear them down ?