AOT shrugs off lawsuit threat by parking firm
Carpark reclaim bid stokes new court row
The Airports of Thailand Plc (AoT) is shrugging off the prospect of renewed legal action by Suvarnabhumi airport’s former car parking operator.
Parking Management Co, the former car parking operator, says it will file a lawsuit this week against the AoT after it reclaimed the airport car park building despite an ongoing contact dispute between the two parties.
Thanakrit Jenkittichote, adviser to Parking Management Co, said yesterday he would file papers against the AoT for dereliction of duty.
AoT board chairman Sita Divari and the other executives would be named in the lawsuit, he said.
The AoT should have waited until the final court ruling is handed down in the contract dispute, he said.
Parking Management Co has accused the AoT of wrongfully terminating its contract to operate the international airport’s car park.
The Central Administrative Court has previously thrown out a lawsuit filed by the parking operator against the AoT.
Later, the AoT reclaimed the car park building by blocking the regular entrances to the building. It also opened a new entrance at the back to allow motorists to park in there, Mr Thanakrit said.
The old entrances have been blocked since April 30 because Parking Management Co staff still work there, he said.
The AoT’s move was tantamount to contempt of court because Parking Management Co has already appealed against the court’s ruling.
AoT acting president Pongsak Semson said the company had to protect the interests of passengers.
‘‘I’m confident the AoT’s decision [to reclaim the building] was well considered and the best course of action. I’m not worried about the company’s move to take new legal action,’’ Mr Pongsak said.
The dispute between AoT and Parking Management Co has been dragging on for almost two years.
The AoT has been paying a team of outside legal experts more than 300,000 baht a month to deal with it, a source inside the company said.
The longer the dispute continues, the more benefits the lawyers for the company would end up enjoying, the same source said.