Owner of The Beach Club, Aroon Paewpanchoo, along with 14 restaurant owners made the appeal in a message for PM Prayuth Chan-ocha on Sunday (November 23).
“Many people have suffered after Sakoo OrBorTor issued orders to demolish the buildings at Nai Yang Beach. We knew the OrBorTor was only acting on orders from the NCPO to get rid of illegal structures on public land, but let's be fair here,” said Aroon.
They [Sakoo OrBorTor] knew that some of us were waiting for the the results of court hearings on the demolition issue but they came and tore down the buildings anyway,” he said.
According to Aroon, many buildings along Nai Yang Beach were investigated for encroachment and subsequently cleared in lengthy court cases 13 years ago.
“I want justice. I want to let the Prime Minister know that residents are being harassed because of the NCPO order to deal with illegal encroachment... But the courts already gave us the right to be here,” said Aroon.
“Some of us have been living here for 20 or 30 years. It's not right for the city and Sakoo local administration to accuse us of illegal encroachment in the middle of an ongoing investigation,” he said.
“If, however, it is judged by the courts that the land is actually public land, then we would have torn down the places ourselves, without the help of government officials.” he added.
Aroon said he was puzzled that the OrBorTor said his building was unsafe and was built without permission, only after receiving the NCPO's orders, demanding to know why such accusations were never made in the 22 years his beach club had been operating.
Aroon claimed he and the 14 other owners had followed correct procedure by appealing against the demolition within the required 30 days of the announcement. However, the OrBorTor began demolition anyway, he said.
“The officials should just wait for the court's decision. We have the right to seek justice. If it turns out the court favours the city officials and the OrBorTor, then we will comply with that decision,” he concluded.