‘Axe aunts’ lose BMA land use court battle

The family of the infamous “axe aunts” yesterday lost its court battle against City Hall regarding amendments to its ordinance allowing types of residential buildings other than detached houses to be built close to Suan Luang Rama IX Park in Prawet district.

The Central Administrative Court dismissed a petition filed against the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration’s (BMA) ordinance, saying the ordinance was issued lawfully.

The petition was jointly filed by three sisters — Boonsri, Rattanachat and Ranee Saengyoktrakan — two of whom previously made headlines when they smashed up a pickup truck blocking the driveway to their house in the Seri Villa housing estate in Prawet district.

The incident earned them the nickname “axe aunts” as an axe was used in the attack.

The 2016 3rd Ordinance of the BMA, replacing the old version of the same ordinance issued in 1989, was drafted, proposed and announced lawfully in the Royal Gazette on July 29, 2016, said the court’s ruling.

Sufficient public hearings were conducted during the drafting process of the ordinance, said the ruling.

Besides, the ordinance does not correspond with the accusation by the Saengyoktrakans that it allows changes in height of new buildings to be built adjacent to the park.

The essence of the 2016 version of the ordinance was to decrease the areas of land surrounding the park that were prohibited from having new buildings constructed on them or from having existing buildings modified, said the ruling.

In the previous version of the ordinance, the building controlled area was demarcated by a canal, while the current version indicates that the areas within a 300-metre radius of the park are demarcated as the building-controlled area, said the ruling.

The areas next to the controlled zone, code-named Area 1, under the current version of the ordinance, currently allow the construction of detached houses, twin houses, terraced houses, and residential buildings, said the ruling.

The past version of the ordinance only allowed detached houses to be constructed in the Area 1 zone.

The maximum height of the buildings allowed in the Area 1 zone remains the same as 15 metres.

These changes were justified by the BMA’s need to adjust the ordinance to suit the growing demand for residential areas, said the ruling.

Besides, the use of the areas around the park is also regulated under other laws including the Nov 24, 1972 announcement by the military government of the time, concluded the ruling.

Ms Rattanachat said after the ruling that urbanisation should not be justified as a reason to invade a conservation area that has been preserved for more than three decades.