Demolition dispute heats up between court, Fine Arts dept

The row between the Supreme Court and the Department of Fine Arts over the demolition of “historic” buildings in the court compound near Sanam Luang has turned nasty with the department threatening to sue and the court to countersue.
Sahawat Naenna, director-general of the DFA, yesterday called for an immediate halt to the demolition, which he said was clearly an illegal act because it was carried out without the department’s permission, after submitting a written petition to Supreme Court President Pairoj Wayuparb and the Court of Justice.
The department could be accused of negligence if it took no action over the issue, he said.
The DFA had 8,000 historic sites awaiting registration while it was capable of registering about 100 each year. He did not say whether the buildings in the compound had been registered. “In this case, if the violation [of the DFA’s classification of the buildings as historic sites] continues, the DFA has to abide by the law by taking the issue to court. However, no suit has been launched yet, as the DFA is waiting for a clear stance from the Supreme Court,” he said.
The Court has reportedly called an urgent meeting for 9am today to discuss the issue, after learning of Sahawat’s statement yesterday.
A high-ranking judicial source said senior judges deemed the department’s stance and its statement as acts of intimidation and the statement as not entirely true. “The judiciary welcomes a suit from the DFA, which would be faced with a countersuit, likely on a charge of falsifying a statement,” the source said.
Wirat Chinwinijul, secretary-general of the Court of Justice, said the demolition and subsequent construction would continue, as it had not received the DFA’s written statement nor been given an order by the Supreme Court to stop the work.
The judiciary had not acted arbitrarily, as the demolition was carried out under an agreement brokered two years ago by then culture minister Niphit Intharasombat, who oversaw the department.
“If the demolition and the planned construction are suspended or halted, all documents acknowledging the agreement will need to be verified and presented,” he said.