4BMA executives would remember 2017 as the year the City lost two lawsuits in the Supreme Administrative Court -- the first against the Inthamara family over the name of a road.
The second, bigger case, was the loss against residents in Soi Ruamrudee 2 over the fate of the Aetas Building.
The court in December ordered the BMA to demolish two buildings on the property -- one 18-storeys, the other 24-storeys. Both buildings are worth three billion baht.
The court reached its ruling after residents sued the BMA for approving construction of high buildings that exceeded the building construction ordinance in the area.
They said the width of Soi Ruamrudee was less than 10 metres. Under the building code, buildings in such a narrow soi should not exceed eight storeys.
BMA governor Aswin Kwanmuang vowed to follow the court order and demolish the buildings in February next year.
The cost of the demolition will amount to 200 million baht and the City will cover the expense and reclaim it from the property owner later.
The case will show whether the BMA is able to proceed with such a high-profile demolition. In the past, it has succeeded in demolishing old and deserted buildings, never a big commercial building still in use.
One example concerned its bid to demolish the New World department store in Bang Lamphu district.
The BMA won a lawsuit against illegal construction of the building. Yet it stopped the demolition work after the structure collapsed while it was being pulled down. The building now sits abandoned with the ground floor turned into a fish pond.
The Aetas building owner has prepared evidence to prove it legally obtained a permit to build the property. The dispute is likely to test the city's mettle as whatever decision it makes is unlikely to please all sides.
