Residences of the ancient Mahakan Fort asked the Administrative Court for protection as an eviction by the order of Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) is looming near.
People from Mahakan Fort Community on Friday morning, 29 April 2016, submitted a petition to the Administrative Court of Bangkok to halt the eviction of their community at the order of BMA.
They urged to the court to hold an emergency trial on Friday afternoon to revoke the BMA’s eviction plan as the eviction is set on 30 April.
In the petition, people of Mahakan Fort community also asked the court the revoke the BMA’s policy to preserve the ancient Rattanakosin area of the capital, calling the policy unlawful as it neglects the livelihood of people in the ancient communities of the area.
In addition, the asked the Administrative Court to issue an order to force BMA to work with the community and Silpakorn University to develop the area without having to demolish the community in accordance to the 2005 BMA’s solution on the issue.
Peerapol Heammarat, the leader of Mahakan Fort Community which has about 318 residents, said that the community has been fighting for the rights to remain in the area for the last 24 years.
He added that the BMA should allow people of the community to stay for at least 2-3 years in the area in order to prove that the community could develop the area as a living museum instead of the lifeless park with the ancient fort as the BMA wanted to create.
The main alley inside Pom Mahakan Community
The residents of Mahakan Fort gathered to state their stand against the eviction order from Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) on 27 March 2016