Monumental matters need city to clue in

BMA cleaners have done superb jobs of keeping the Bangkok monuments including the Victory Monument (above) spic-and-span, but they are regrettably under-developed and underused. (File photo)

I must confess that I am bemused over the question concerning the legal ownership of Victory Monument raised by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA).

The agency has recently performed cleaning work on the monument, which is located where three roads -- Phaya Thai, Ratchawithi and Phahon Yothin -- have intersected for the past seven decades. The monument was built in 1942 to honour the war heroes, including soldiers, police, and civilians killed during the Franco-Thai War over disputed territories in French Indochina between 1940-1941.

So, it is a hilarious surprise that state agencies are clueless regarding who is legally responsible for the monument.