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And right after Chuwit lost in court!


Flashermac
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THE NATION

26 August 2007

 

More than 100 men ravage a Bangkok market

 

 

More than 100 robust men stormed into a Bangkok market and destroyed about 30 stalls there early Sunday morning.

 

It took them less than 10 minutes to turn the stalls into ruins. The Makkasan Police Station was alerted about what happened at around 4 am.

 

Witnesses said they saw more than 20 vehicles suspiciously parking at the entrance of the market, which is near Uthai Tharam Temple and the Bangkok's Royal City Avenue (RCA), before they moved into the market and released more than 100 vandals.

 

"I am going to demand compensations for damages done," Samruai Nongpong, alias Ruai RCA, said in his capacity as the market's manager.

 

He said all stalls in the market had operated on leased lots with a monthly rent of Bt18,000 for more than 20 years, until three months ago when landowner and businessman Suraphan Wongkarnpot refused to take the rent saying the lease contracts had expired.

 

"I told him we would relocate once we found a new place to set up the stalls, but then such a violent incident happened," Samruai said.

 

 

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Lt-Colonel Pairach Saiyalert, an inspector with Makkasan police, said 17 people had lodged complaints about the shops' demolition.

 

"We will investigate the case further and bring culprits to justice," Pairach said. He estimated the damage to be around Bt1.2million.

 

One of the complainants, Lue Nakpayon, said he had operated his stall for more than 10 years and never thought that such violent means would be used against traders.

 

"I have never fallen behind in my rent schedule," Lue said.

 

He said he always paid the rent through Samruai, who assured him that the business could continue as usual even when a board was erected to demand that the stalls relocate or face legal action.

 

"Samruai told me that he could settle things with the landlord," Lue said. "But in whatever case talk is a much better option. One should not resort to violence."

 

Lue said he had heard that Suraphan had arranged to meet Samruai today.

 

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The recent Chuwit decision only involved compensation to a few shopowners, right, no criminal time (other than the guy who was convicted long before)? The guy who wanted to clear this market area might have just done the math, now that he'd seen how Chuwit's case came out (although isn't this smack in the middle of Chuwit terrority? Maybe it was him again...). How much would he have to pay if he destroyed the market, versus the amount of money he was losing by renting at a rate agreed in 1987, or not developing the space, etc. And if the total damage really is only 1.2 million baht, he can pay up and get on with his grand plans!

 

Not that I condone this kind of behaviour, of course. Just looking at it through the mirrored shades of the guy who paid these guys to smash the place up...

 

YimSiam

 

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They'd probably ignore you - unless for some reason you tried to stop them. Chuwit sent his raiding party to destroy Soi 10 at around 3 am. They seem to like the hours when no one is likely to be around, including the police.

 

p.s. This is a variation on an old theme. Landlords used to set fire to slum areas, often managing to kill a few residents in the process. The location in this case made that impractical.

 

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From what I know of these situations, I side with the razings that go on. The tenants act like they are the land owners. When they are told to leave, they refuse. It's not their land, yet they act like it is and then act like it's a big shock when they get evicted and that it is so unfair. I don't have any sympathy and I applaud the owners for giving ample warning, then handling these issue in a quick, non-violent way.

 

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