Project near temple legal, office insists
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The Office of the Privy Purse is standing by its decision to award a lease contract to a private firm amid rumours the project will feature a hotel and shopping complex right next to Bangkok's Leng Noei Yi Temple.
“The firm has proceeded in line with the law,” an official at the office said yesterday.
The firm, according to this official, is Imperial Land Co Ltd. The office’s top chief Pinyo Ekaraphanich could not be reached for comment.
Leng Noei Yi is a famous Chinese temple with history tracing back more than a century. It has attracted a huge number of worshippers and pilgrims.
The temple’s management has expressed strong opposition to the plan to have a hotel built near the monastery.
Suthi Jintananaruemit, a member of the temple’s board, yesterday said it remained unclear as to whether the company’s executives would have discussions with the temple’s management on May 17.
“They have not yet confirmed the discussion,” he said.
Suthi said the temple and its followers planned to stage a peaceful demonstration against the project on the afternoon of May 21. The Lawyers Council of Thailand has been looking into laws to determine what action can be taken to stop the plan.
“As for now, it’s clear the firm has asked for permission to repair the building but it is actually modifying it,” the council’s board member Jessada Anujaree said.
He said if officials and authorities ignore the matter, he will consider taking action against them – but the process might take time.
Pom Prab District Office’s public-works chief Prapassorn Kularb said he had ordered the suspension of any work on the main structure of the building. “If the firm wants to modify the main structure, it will have to submit a plan for review. If the plan is okay, I will approve it,” he said.
Office of the Consumer Protection Board deputy secretary-general Jirachai Moonthongroy said the zoning laws should be invoked to ensure a hotel could not spring into operation close to the temple.
