The 500 vendors at the five markets which allegedly operated illegally in the Seri Villa housing estate in Prawet district are to be treated as damaged parties eligible for compensation, according to a source at City Hall.
City governor Aswin Kwanmuang called a meeting yesterday to discuss the problem arising from the markets. City Hall has ordered the markets, each with about 100 vendors, to suspend trading until they obtain the necessary licences to operate.
The Ple and the Yingnara markets stand a better chance of re-opening. They obtained permission to put up the commercial buildings which house their markets. However, they broke a city ordnance over selling wet-market products and for failing to set aside a car parking area for customers. The Suan Luang 1 market was granted a construction permit but did not obtain a certificate to run a market in line with the Public Health Act. The other two markets, Rungwanit and Rom Lueang, meanwhile, secured neither building permission nor a licence to operate a market.
Pol Gen Aswin said yesterday's meeting was attended by City Hall departments responsible for public works, construction and hygiene. The legal dispute stemming from the markets came to light on Feb 19 when two angry women smashed a market-goer's parked pickup truck which was blocking their driveway. The incident put the spotlight on hundreds of city markets and City Hall's management of them. It raised concerns about how many city ordinances those markets might have violated after it turned out that all five at the Seri Villa housing estate operated illegally.
Before the meeting, Pol Gen Aswin told a press conference the Administrative Court has granted legal protection to three sisters -- Boonsri, Ratanachat and Ranee Saengyoktrakan -- two of whom carried out the pickup truck smashing. They had sought a court injunction against the markets surrounding their home ordering them to stop causing them problems.
Pol Gen Aswin said City Hall was working to comply with the order. It asked local police to manage traffic around the sisters' house and ensure market-goers do not park their vehicles in front of their house. The governor said City Hall would also take care of the vendors in the five markets affected by the trading suspension. They must be treated as damaged parties as they had no way of knowing the market owners' problems with City Hall.
Pol Gen Aswin said City Hall was looking for alternative trading areas for the vendors. "We're Thais and we need to help each other," he said.
City Hall has set up a panel to study the dispute. The committee members include the Bangkok City Council, the National Anti-Corruption Commission and the Office of the Attorney-General.
