27 Sep, 2020
Choti Chothikamjorn, a member of the Pattaya City council, brought up an issue related to the legal progress of the Waterfront luxury condo project case in a council meeting yesterday, September 26, as none of the prior actions were seriously taken against the problem for many years.
The Waterfront Suites and Residence is a half finished 53-story condominium project located in Bali Hai Pier. The project was launched in 2004 and had been in the construction process until 2014 after public outrage due to its obstruction of Pattaya’s scenery. The developer, Bali Hai Co. Ltd, had also reportedly gone bankrupt in 2017, leaving the condo abandoned and ruining the classic picturesque view of the Bali Hai Pier.
Read the controversial story of the abandoned building HERE
Prior to this, the President of the Pattaya City Council had suggested the Supreme Court to order the revocation of 3 title deeds as well as the examination of how the certificate of land possession and the certificate of land use were issued in the first place.
Although the Pattaya Court has halted the construction and ordered a legitimate demolition, any further legal procedures regarding the allegedly unlawful land ownership of the Israeli company, Bali Hai Co. Ltd, had not yet been accomplished which has delayed demolishment of the building according to the Bali Hai Company.
Chris Cherdsuriya, Head of the Pattaya Building Control Department, stated that the Pattaya City authorities were also rejected by the Construction Engineering Department and the Department of Public Works to proceed with the building demolition following the court’s order, claiming that the departments were not specialized in calculating and estimating the total cost of the demolition.
The authorities, therefore, are in the process of forwarding the request of cooperation letter and negotiating with eleven private demolition experts to find a solution soon to hopefully demolish the building.
Pattaya City Council chairman Anan Angkanawisan concluded at the meeting that, instead of waiting for various legal proceedings, relevant law firms should initiate an investigation primarily with aerial photographs and other related documents of the matter that can be analyzed before collecting all the documents and evidence and presenting them to the prosecutors. This would support expediting a demolishment.
Additionally, the Pattaya Law Department has been suggested to participate with relevant authorities to discuss a plan for better potential use of the land in the future.
