Deputy Mayor Verawat Khakhay
leads the demolition team in taking apart the illegal structure.
Phasakorn Channgam
After fighting the owner of the Boutique Hotel for more than a year
over illegally adding floors and an annex, city officials finally triumphed,
demolishing the South Pattaya hotel extension.
Cheered on by area residents and business owners, Banglamung District
workers backed by 50 police officers began dismantling the extension Nov.
26. The demolition was a victory for Pattaya officials exasperated with
owner Alongkorn Saewang’s brazen defiance of piles of city stop-work orders
and a string of broken promises.
Owned by Jomtien Holiday Inn Co., which is managed by Alongkorn, the
Boutique was found in mid-2012 to have added four floors to its permitted
seven without permit or inspection. Additionally, the company started
building a second tower, leaving less than the required six meters between
structures, a violation of city building and fire codes.
The Building Control Office ordered work stopped on the
new building and prohibited use of the illegal floors in existing hotel.
Both orders went unheeded, as did a second stop-work order issued a month
later.
On Jan. 30, the city Engineering Office condemned the building, ordering
Jomtien Holiday Inn to demolish the structure within 60 days. Not only was
that order ignored, but construction continued as before. In July, Pattaya
City Hall went to court to force the demolition, which finally was scheduled
for Nov. 11.
But, as he’d done repeatedly during the conflict, Alongkarn begged the city
to hold off, promising to demolish the building himself within a week. Two
weeks later, nothing had been done. This time Pattaya officials called in
backup from Banglamung to get the job done.
Demolition of the Boutique, however, only marks the start of Alongkarn’s
battles with the city. District Chief Sakchai Taengho said 11 other
properties under his control are believed to have violated city codes as
well.
“If further offenses are found, they will be dealt with as well,” he vowed.
Pattaya Deputy Mayor Verawat Khakhay said the city is monitoring other
buildings in the Jomtien Holiday Inn group, promising to regularly conduct
inspections and enforce the law.
