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Kata Royal Condo Moves To Save Phuket View


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Kata Royal Condo moves to save Phuket view

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An artist's impression of the completed project at a height of only five storeys.

PHUKET: -- Following complaints by local residents, developers of a condominium project in Phuket have agreed to not build the top two storeys of the apartment block to preserve views over Kata Bay.

The environmental impact assessment (EIA) of the Kata Royal Condo project on Patak Road was originally approved for seven storeys.

However, when local residents realized the structure would block the view of Koh Phu (Crab Island) from the road over Kata Hill, they staged a protest and lobbied the Phuket Provincial Office to review the EIA approval process.

A work stoppage order was issued by Karon Municipality pending investigation of the matter.

The EIA was upheld by the Phuket office of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, but the decision whether to lift the construction ban rested with Karon Municipality, which refused to rescind the stoppage order until receipt of a letter from a provincial review board signed by the governor.

Although the construction was deemed legal in every respect, the developers finally agreed not to go ahead with the final two floors of the project.

At a meeting among local officials and company representatives chaired by Vice Governor Nivit Aroonrat late last week, the developers said they were prepared to shelve plans to complete the project according to the original design.

Among those attending the meeting was Karon Mayor Thawee Thongcham.

The developers also presented computer graphics showing an artist’s conception of how the project would appear from atop Kata Hill road with just five storeys.

Under the new design, Koh Phu would appear to float just above the finished structure.

However, once motorists began their descent they would quickly find the view obstructed by the building.

Pimpa Phitya-isarakul, executive director of the project, said, “We understand what villagers feel and have agreed to save the iconic view of Koh Phu. We are visitors. We will be happy if local people are happy.”

Asked how much the truncated design would cost the company in terms of lost sales, she said it was too early to know whether the project partners would be able to recoup their investment.

Despite the concession made by the developers, local officials fear residents may insist the project be scaled back even further.

Village representative Chalong Loysamut said, “I will let the villagers consider this new plan and discuss whether we are pleased with the offer. But I don’t think we will accept it because we told them before that we would like to cut off two more [storeys] to offer a panoramic view of the area.”

“I would like to say to all of those concerned in the construction approval process that they should take greater care to protect the environment and develop sustainable tourism, rather than waiting for problems like this to arise and be fixed one-by-one.

“There won’t be anything left to save on this paradise island if we don’t start saving it now,” he said.

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-- Phuket Gazette 2010-12-27

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What a miserable attitude from "Village representative" Chalong Loysamut. He should be thankful the developers have decided to not add the last two floors.

I were them, I'd tell the "representative" to shove it, stick on the last two 100% legal floors and add a 20 foot high sign on top advertising the condo.

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What a miserable attitude from "Village representative" Chalong Loysamut. He should be thankful the developers have decided to not add the last two floors.

I were them, I'd tell the "representative" to shove it, stick on the last two 100% legal floors and add a 20 foot high sign on top advertising the condo.

BUT, who ever gave planning permission in the first place should have looked at the bigger picture, taken into account those who have already purchased their property with the views etc. :)

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>>BUT, who ever gave planning permission in the first place should have looked at the bigger picture, taken into account those who have already purchased their property with the views etc

That doesn't happen here, the "taking into account of others that bought property with views".

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>>BUT, who ever gave planning permission in the first place should have looked at the bigger picture, taken into account those who have already purchased their property with the views etc

That doesn't happen here, the "taking into account of others that bought property with views".

You could have stopped after the first 4 quoted words..

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I would like to know how the approval was obtained in the 1st place. Was it a clean process where the public was consulted?

Seems to me, someone has been caught with a bad plan and now everyone is scrambling to get out of the spotlight.

The developer made its building plans and planned costs and profits based upon the original floors. As the floors are reduced, someone's going to take it up the rear.

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I would like to know how the approval was obtained in the 1st place. Was it a clean process where the public was consulted?

Seems to me, someone has been caught with a bad plan and now everyone is scrambling to get out of the spotlight.

The developer made its building plans and planned costs and profits based upon the original floors. As the floors are reduced, someone's going to take it up the rear.

If I recall correctly, the locals were consulted, plans were circulated for local consideration but apparently no one thought about the view from the hill to the island until the plans were approved.

So the locals had their chance and missed it, probably through a mixture of incomprehension, laziness and "mai bpen rai" attitude.

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What a miserable attitude from "Village representative" Chalong Loysamut. He should be thankful the developers have decided to not add the last two floors.

I were them, I'd tell the "representative" to shove it, stick on the last two 100% legal floors and add a 20 foot high sign on top advertising the condo.

that would be declaring war at us locals :rolleyes:

play with the locals and succeed. or forget about building anything

no doubt this buildingpermit was granted without having a look at the situation map or the site itself

as the buildingpermit is about to expire, an extension is needed from the local government (tessabaan) so if the locals accept 5 floors, an extended buildingpermit can be issued deleted 2 top floors

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