Luxury resort project on Koh Samui faces demolition
Authorities suspended a Chinese-owned luxury resort project on Koh Samui after finding out the property was not being built according to its permit and was taller than the law allowed.
Pol Maj Gen Watcharin Poosit, commander of the Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Suppression Division (NED), said on Sunday that officers of the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) and Koh Samui municipality raided the site of the “Anzhu Seamate” project in tambon Maret in Surat Thani’s Koh Samui district on Saturday.
The project involves the construction of a luxury resort, which was suspected of being illegal.
The officers found the project was owned by a group of Chinese investors.
Locals living in the area said there are approximately 50 builders working at the site each day, but no workers were found during the raid, leading officers to believe someone had put a hold on the work, Pol Maj Gen Watcharin said.
He added the property was found to comprise several pool villas close to each other on a hill, with each building being taller than 10 metres, exceeding the legal limit of 6 metres.
According to the authorities, the property document of the land where the resort is located belongs to a Chinese-owned company named Anzhu Seamate, which bought about 10 rai of land in 2018.
Another group of Chinese investors requested a permit to build 34 villas on the land and hired Anzhu Seamate as the contractor in the project, Maj Gen Watcharin said.
However, the detail of the project was later altered, which resulted in the villas being built right next to each other instead of being separated as allowed by the permit, he said.
As a result, the Koh Samui municipality ordered that the villas be demolished as they were not being built according to the permit.
The municipality previously filed a complaint about the matter with the police. Work has now been suspended, and the individuals behind the project will be hunted down.
The NED inspected a similar construction project called Samui Green Cottages, consisting of 53 villas, on Koh Samui on Friday.
The agency found that about 10 of the villas were being constructed without a permit.
Source: https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2829093/luxury-resort-project-on-samui-faces-demolition
