BMA starts clearing historic canal area

IN A bid to reclaim the registered historic site of Klong Ong Ang and restore it to its past glory, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) yesterday began demolishing some parts of Saphan Lek Market and Saphan Han structures that have blocked the canal for more than two decades.
Meanwhile, the market vendors submitted a petition to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha via the public service centre at the PM’s Secretary’s Office yesterday asking for the demolition to be held off for three months till the result of an appeal to Interior Minister Anupong Paojinda is known. They said if structures were demolished and Anupong later rules against it, they would suffer irreversible damage.
The appeal to Anupong will be tabled at the Klong Ong Ang landscape improvement committee’s meeting this afternoon.
However, the vendors’ hopes could well be dashed, as Anupong said earlier yesterday that it was time for the country to start doing the right thing, and that since Saphan Lek intruded upon a public canal which provides drainage for the city, it was illegal. He said the city had already been lenient by letting stalls stay along the road.
Deputy city governor Assawin Kwanmuang presided over the start of the demolition, as workers began tearing down structures obstructing the canal in the Panupan Bridge area yesterday morning. He urged people to cooperate with the authorities as they tear down structures left behind by 200 vendors who have already left, saying the procedure would be gradual.
An informed source said Klong Ong Ang had been registered as a historic site since 1976, but the area now has many permanent metal and concrete structures that intrude into the canal.
Also, some shops were built on the edge of the canal’s sluice-gate dam, causing it to be damaged. Vendors also dropped waste into the canal and polluted the water, the source said.
The vendors around the canal may have violated several laws, including the Building Act, the Town Planning Act and the Ancient Monuments, Antiques and National Museums Act 1961.
People convicted of damaging a registered historic site could face up to 10 years in prison and/or a fine of up to Bt1 million, the source added.
There are 500 structures intruding into the canal in the area – 363 from Damrong Sathit Bridge to Panupan Bridge, 74 from Panupan Bridge to Saphan Han and 63 from Saphan Han to Bopitpimook Bridge.
The Committee on Conservation and Development of Krung Rattanakosin resolved on July 28, 2000 to stop the city from collecting fees from vendors operating near Klong Ong Ang. But in August 2000, the BMA’s City Market Office announced the cancellation of this market status and revoked vendors’ renting rights.
On September 28, the city posted an eviction order for all the vendors to move out within 15 days, but many didn’t budge – so the city decided to start the demolition proceedings yesterday.