Residents of Pom Mahakan community have filed a petition to the PM, pleading for a multilateral steering committee for the eviction enforced by Bangkok authorities.
On 6 July 2016, representatives of Pom Mahakan community submitted a petition to the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), demanding a multilateral steering committee for the demolition of the community, reported BBC Thai.
According to the petition, the community wants the government to appoint a committee, which comprises academics, legal experts, urban planners, NGOs and government officials, to find a proper treatment for the eviction. The petition also states that Panadda Diskul, the OPM Minister, should be the chair of the steering committee.
The petition was filed following the residents’ fear that the BMA might break the promise given to the community that it will not extend the demolition without consent of the local people.
More than 300 people live in Pom Mahakan community. The community is almost as old as Bangkok itself. But the BMA, citing a 2002 cabinet resolution and a 2004 Administrative Court order, wants to demolish the cluster of wooden houses behind the fortress wall and develop the area into a public park.
Residents of Pom Mahakan protest against BMA's demolition plan (Photo from BBC Thai)