City plan upsets consumer group

The Thailand Consumer Council (TCC) will submit a petition against the Bangkok city plan to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Wednesday, citing flaws in public hearing processes that violate people’s rights.
Itboon Onwongsa, deputy secretary-general of the TCC, said the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration’s fourth revised edition of the city plan still lacks public awareness and engagement.
“That was against people’s rights,” he told participants in a forum on the “Justice City” held by the TCC on Saturday.
“We have followed the drafting of the Bangkok city plan and found many city problems that still need to be solved, such as flooding and traffic congestion. Bangkok has more than 5 million people, and everyone has the right to express their opinions about the new plan,” he said.
The constitution says the preparation of the city plan must pass public hearings and invite public engagement. But the BMA has failed to explain the impacts of its city plan while its public hearings drew few participants.
The TCC wrote to the BMA asking that more people attend its hearings, but the BMA did not respond. As a result, TCC would ask the National Human Rights Commission to intervene.
Supattra Nakaphiw, a member of NHRC, said she initially agreed with the petition that the draft of the Bangkok city pan may violate people’s rights, such as the right to information, the right to participation, the right to a healthy environment, and the right to property, especially the right to housing.
“We will investigate whether the process of drafting the Bangkok City Plan violates people’s rights. If we find there is a violation, we will submit it to BMA to find solutions,” she said.
Pornprom Okuchi, assistant secretary of the Subcommittee on Real Estate and Housing under the TCC, said 21,776 people took part in the BMA’s public hearings from 2017 until the present, out of Bangkok population of 5.4 million people.
“That’s less than one per cent. This is unacceptable data for public hearings of significant projects like city planning,” he said, adding the revised city plan will add 148 roads and expand 200 canals.
Atavit Suwanpakdee, chairman of an advisory board to the Industry Minister, said he has been keeping an eye on the BMA’s city plan. He found the Khu Bon Water Plan has yet to be included in the latest version.
He said the Khu Bon water retention plan had disappeared despite the government’s announcement that it was a water retention area in Bangkok’s eastern region capable of holding up to 870,000 million cubic metres of water.
Despite the fact that 130-rai of land was designated as a water catchment area known as a kaem ling (monkey cheek) in 2022, several housing estates were erected by private firms.
“The water retention plan has been prepared for land expropriation, but the area has been allocated to housing projects. I will wait to see whether the plan is finally included in the city plan. If not, I will submit this matter to the National Anti-Corruption Commission,” he said.
Thaweethong Latthong, a representative of people in Klong Toey district, said the community sacrificed community land to develop Bangkok Port and relocated four important temples out of the area.
“Today, we would like to participate in drafting the 4th Bangkok City Plan by asking that 20% of the port area be assigned to the 26 Klong Toey communities.
“Since we learnt that a portion of the port will be allocated for an entertainment complex project, we would like to have some of the land for our people so we will have secure places to call home,” he said.