CityNews – The Court Region 5 has suggested that the judicial residences that have been dubbed the ‘Scar of Doi Suthep’ have suggested keeping and living in the village for just ten years after which a second decision would be made on what to do with it.
On April 22nd, Sawat Surawattananan, president of the Court of Appeal Region 5, made a statement about Chiang Mai’s campaign against the judicial residences on Doi Suthep. Apart from confirming that the project is technically legal and appropriate, he claimed that the housing was a national asset and to push for it to be demolished would be a challenging task. He suggested that the energy of the people should be on reforestation rather than on their residences.
Chamnan Rawiwannaphong, the committee member of Judicial Commission and the president of Bankruptcy Division, Supreme Court who is also a former president of the Court of Appeal Region 5 said that the judiciary officials will not oppose any decision made by the government office, and pointed out that the using the environmental act must be carefully considered as it may not be suitable for this issue. He also pointed out that the demolishing a national asset is against the law – echoing the claims by Sawat earlier this week.
Chamnan also suggested that demolishing the housing at this time would cause complications during the upcoming local elections which will take place at the Court of Appeal Region 5. He suggested that the process will be complicated if the officers do not have residences. The judicial residences are not currently lived in as construction is not currently complete.
Judicial officers proposed to the campaign against them to let the officers use the residences for ten years. During that period, the officers will work on restoring the forest and if the results do not impress the Chiang Mai people, then the officers will work to find other solutions.
The judicial officers confirmed that they will gladly meet with the network of Chiang Mai people who are campaigning against the residences, but said they would not meet them on a public stage nor in a military camp.