The Supreme Administrative Court ordered the revocation of the construction permit on Thursday of the 6.4 billion baht Ashton Asoke luxury condominium project in the heart of Bangkok.
The court ruled that the Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand’s permission allowing its expropriated land to be used as an exit and entrance to Asoke Road by the condominium project, located on Sukhumvit Soi 21, is illegal, because the land was expropriated from private individuals for the construction of the Blue Line and can only be used for public benefit.
The court’s final ruling is retroactively applied to the date when the construction permit was issued, in February 2015,by the Wattana district office.
Prasert Taedullayasatit, CEO of the real estate division of Ananda Development, the project’s owner, said that the company will consult Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt and executives of the MRTA to find a solution.
He hinted that the company may file a lawsuit against the city administration for granting the construction permit and the MRTA for allowing the company to use part of its land.
He said the company has paid rent for the use of the MRTA land and built a park and ride car park.
According to Prasert, the condominium is now occupied by 580 families, most of whom have been there for over four years.
The case was raised with the Central Administrative Court back in 2016 by serial petition Srisuwan Janya, secretary-general of the Anti-Global Warming Association, who accused the developer of trespassing on public land and violation of environmental control laws. He also accused the district chief officer of Wattana district and other district officials of illegally issuing the construction permit to the developer.
