New Mahakan Fort saga beckons

Last week, Bangkok sadly lost one of its oldest communities as a result of shortsightedness and mismanagement on the part of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA). The last group of Mahakan Fort residents, after facing waves of brutal state actions, packed and left the fort area where they had lived for generations. Many see their departure as the end of a chapter of local people’s history. Now some conservationists are raising concerns about the uncertain fate of rare, majestic trees that have been left behind at the doomed fort area. Their concerns are justified, given the fact the BMA does not care much about those trees at the historical site despite their value. Those huge and tall trees — some are extremely rare — are believed to be the plants that were grown at the same time the 236-yearold city was founded or even much longer before. Like those wooden houses that were carelessly demolished by city officials last week, there are chances the trees that efficiently tell us what the early Rattanakosin era setting looked like may soon be gone.

And those concerns are not exaggerated given the fact that the city administration has a shortage of knowledge of how the old quarters of Bangkok should exist in this modern time. It has committed a plethora of conservation faux pas over past years as it persistently uprooted the community.

One major mistake included senseless tree-cutting at this historical site last year. Some of those trees were axed by city workers, shortly before the royal cremation last year.

The indiscriminate tree-cutting heightened public anger to the point that it forced those at the top of the administration to come and offer apologies. Without shame, they simply blamed it on “unknowing city workers who carried it out without an idea about the consequences.”

With such an excuse, it’s a pity that no one was held accountable for such a shameless act. It’s a disappointment that all state agencies, even the Rattanakosin committee, allowed the BMA to get away with such unacceptable wrong. Now without the community which had strenuously guarded those precious plants that provided shade to their place for decades, the fears of further tree cutting has become real.

Governor Aswin and his team may have no ability to learn from their mistakes, but civic groups must.

Appointed governor Aswin Kwanmuang, during a visit to the Mahakan to inspect the final demolition work, mentioned a plan to build a stand-alone park — an idea that it had dropped due to strong resistance by conservationists when the fight over Mahakan came to a peak a decade ago.

There was a consensus that such a park, an initiative of the Committee on the Conservation of Rattanakosin and Old Towns, was not really suitable for an area like Mahakan fort, with its enclosed, tall wall structure.

Without the community around, the area is a perfect place for crime. Instead, a living museum would be a better choice. The BMA, until this month, had promised that it would accommodate a museum as part of the park. Such a promise is now empty.

Now governor Aswin has made it clear he will dust off the park plan, and make a U-turn on the museum idea. The governor stressed the need for an “open visual landscape” for the park. That means there is no space for old, large trees — only some bush plants that have no history which will be grown in what many speculate will add up to be an expensive project. If that’s the case, it’s an unwise use of taxpayers’ money.

During his Mahakan inspection, governor Aswin was seen recklessly instructing city workers to remove large, precious plants from the area. A clip showing him barking in a clear voice, “Cut down those trees,” is circulating in social media.

The governor should know his careless order is extremely inappropriate. If anything, it gives the wrong message that embarking on a tree-cutting spree is acceptable which it is entirely not.

However, if the first tree-cutting was an honest mistake, as the administration tried to convince the public, the governor seemed not to care about the second, which this time will be a once and for all effort.

With his careless and blunt statement over tree cutting, there is an impression that Mr Aswin has not learned from his mistake and is willing to repeat it. Civic groups and state agencies should keep abreast of the Mahakan development which follows at the hands of the BMA. They should also watch the way the BMA spends the money on the controversial project.

Governor Aswin and his team may have no ability to learn from their mistakes, but civic groups must. They must act to let the BMA know that budget spending must be transparent at least. On top of that, they must not let the BMA gets away such stupid acts again.