A tense showdown Saturday morning between a city demolition crew and historic community ended peacefully with an agreement allowing workers to demolish only homes whose owners had accepted compensation to leave.
The confrontation began at about 9am when Deputy Bangkok Gov. Aswin Kwanmuang led city personnel and demolition equipment to an old fort next to Wat Saket and tried to enter the community behind its wall. The residents and supporters of Pom Mahakan had already gathered to prevent the city from making good on its threat to demolish the roughly 50 residences inside.
As the situation escalated, residents decided to close the fort for security and only allowed top city officials, academics and activists inside for discussion. Like in a siege setting befitting the fort’s historical purpose, its large doors were shut tight and people only allowed through one at a time.
Aswin Kwanmuang, Deputy Governor of Bangkok, negotiates with representatives of Pom Mahakan after brief confrontation between the authorities and Pom Mahakan residents on 3 September 2016 (Photo from Pom Mahakan Community Facebook Page)
