Press Release
Ten plaintiffs file Administrative Court case against Pattaya City Hall for issuing a questionable building permit for a 27-story condominium at Jomthien Beach.
An Administrative Court case was filed in Rayong, Thailand against Pattaya City Hall by ten plaintiffs living at the 32 stories Jomthien Complex Condotel. To file the lawsuit was the final result after a long odyssey of the co-owners which dates back to the beginning of the 1990’s. At this time the developer of Jomthien Complex Condotel started the marketing of the condominium and issued prospectus of how the final construction should look like when everything is finished. According to this prospectus, the land now in dispute should house a small detached hotel complex with tropical gardens and recreation areas. However, the whole project started for the first couple of years very slow and the sales figures started to increase finally after the millennium. There were once signs to finally develop the land in dispute but this was stopped after a geologist survey showed that the soil conditions can not cope with the planed construction of a small detached hotel complex. It is not known if this or financial shortage or whatever reason forced the landowner to sell the plot of land to the developer which is successful with its “View Talay Condominiums” in Pattaya. In 2005 it became public information that the new developer will start to erect a new condominium under the name “View Talay Project 7”. This causes a lot of confusion taken the above mentioned geologist survey into account and the responsibility of the developer of Jomthien Complex Condotel in relation to their sales prospectus granting the co-owners an undisturbed sea-view.
The now plaintiffs and other co-owners took their stand and started to approach all people and government bodies involved but discovered that they were not taken seriously and left behind neglected. On this long journey they received only two positive responses. One by the royal household and the second by the Office of the Natural Resource and Environmental Policy and Planning (EIA) in Bangkok. The first was represented by a secretary of the Royal Household and was invited by the plaintiffs and asked for legal assistance. The secretary replied they can not intervene in legal disputes and mentioned that Thailand is a state of laws and if there is something not in accordance with the laws the co-owners should approach the responsible courts. In addition, the secretary stressed the fact that he will stay aside as close observer for the whole legal dispute. The above mentioned second party involved sends a representative to the construction side in February 2007 to inspect the fulfillment of a long list of measurements which have to be taken by the developer but until today totally neglected in most of the cases. The construction permit was issued by Pattaya City Hall after the Office of the Natural Resource and Environment Policy and Planning issued a thick catalogue of conditions which have to be fulfilled by the developer. The ignorance of this measurement can lead to the revocation of the construction permit. The Pattaya Mayor, responsible for the construction permit and therefore responsible for the fulfillment of the conditions set by the Bangkok Office was invited to the construction side after many letters of complaint for not fulfilling the measures was than approached by the representative from Bangkok and reminded to its duties. However, the neglecting of the measures goes on.
Therefore, the co-owners saw no other way as filing a law suit and ask the Administrative Court for their assistance to finally receive a judgment for the believed illegal issuance of a building permit for the View Talay 7 high rise condominium that is located on the entry to Dongtan Beach in Jomthien. This building permit is believed to be in violation and illegal according to Ministerial Regulation Issue 9 (B. E. 2521), that amended issued in essence of the Construction Act B.E. 2479. Amongst other prohibited construction close to the beaches of Pattaya and Jomthien, this regulation stipulates that no building over 14 meters may be constructed within 200 meters of the from the high tide line. Any building over 14 meters in height above road level are not allowed. The permit was issued for a 27 stories 87 meter high condominium. To be built less than 100 meters from the high tide line and will block the views of several condominiums nearby.
Did not Pattaya City Hall employees know of the Ministerial restriction before issuing a permit? Because this is an Administrative Court case, the plaintiffs are asking to revoke the building permit. They are looking for a ruling, or at least a "Stop Work Order" to be issued, by the court before the construction gets over 14 meters.
The ten plaintiffs hired the Pattaya based law firm “Asia LawWorks Co., Ltd.”, represented by its two senior partners Mr. Amnat Thiengtham, LL.M and Mr. Markus Klemm, LL.M to prepare and file the lawsuit. Mr. Thiengtham has a long proven record of 20 years practice in Pattaya and obtained its Master Degree in Administrative Law in 2006 as his commitment to a new and interesting area of law in Thailand and to the law firm of constant further education. Mr. Klemm was working for the German-Thai Chamber of Commerce in Bangkok before setting up Asia LawWorks Co., Ltd. with the aim of providing qualified legal service to mainly European companies with investments at the Eastern Seaboard as well as Thai companies with investments in the European Union.
We are attaching a copy of the Administrative Court case complaint and copies of the Ministerial Regulation Issue 9 (B. E. 2521) are available from stopvt7@yahoo.com. This action group of Thai and Foreigners was organized to bring the court action.
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