Jumping the gun with resort demolition

Certainly, the law must be upheld, but Ban Talay Mok resort chairman Somchai Penpathanakul says he filed a lawsuit with the Administrative Court last week, with hearings to begin August 14. The accused must be assumed innocent until proven guilty, so why has Director-General Damrong jumped the gun? Damrong’s reason for haste – that Unesco was about to consider the park as a national heritage site – holds no water, for Unesco would not condone such a flagrant violation of law as justification to get the prestigious designation.

Damrong should seek court injunctions against all nine resorts, accusing them of encroachment and seeking an order that, until the cases have run their courses, a court-appointed manager will handle the finances of these places, putting profits into escrow. That way, the resorts will not gain from dragging out the cases and the park will have funds to restore any reclaimed land.

In the meantime Damrong should put his admirable zeal to work in other parts of the country, so that all illegal resorts are cleaned out – regardless of whether Unesco considers them national heritage sites or not.

Burin Kantabutra

Bangkok