To:

Governor M.R. Sukhumbhand Paribatra, Governor of Bangkok
Police General Aswin Khawnmuang, Deputy Governor of Bangkok
173 Dinso Road, Phra Nakhon
Bangkok, Thailand 10200.

Fax: +66 2-621 0878

CC:

General Prawit Wongsuwan
Deputy Prime Minister and Chairs of the Krung Rattanakosin and Old
Towns Conservation and Development Committee

Bovornvej Rungruji, Chairs of the Krung Rattanakosin Sub-committee

Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning
60/1 Soi Pibunwattana 7, Rama 6 Road
Samsennai, Phayathai District
Bangkok Thailand 10400

Tel: +66 2-265-6500
Fax: +66 2-265-6511

Ms. Leilhani Farha
UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
Palais Wilson
52 rue des Pâquis
CH-1201 Geneva, Switzerland.
E-mail: srhousing@ohchr.org

Dr. Gwang-Jo Kim
Director,
UNESCO Bangkok
Mom Luang Pin Malakul Centenary Building
920 Sukhumvit Road
Prakanong, Klongtoei
Bangkok 10110
Thailand
E-mail: bangkok@unesco.org

Solidarity with Pom Mahakan community proposals and struggles for human rights and Zero Evictions!

Dear Governor Suhumbhand and Deputy Governor Aswin,

I am writing to you because I have received disturbing information from local organisations and the International Alliance of Inhabitants (IAI) regarding plans for the imminent eviction of the Pom Mahakan community (approximately 300 people) by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) in order to carry out the “beautification” of the historic site as part of the implementation of the Rattanakosin Conservation and Development Plan.

I express my deep concern that such a precipitate and ill-advised move would violate the human rights of the residents, recognized by international laws and those of your country, and would destroy a resource of considerable value to the people of Bangkok and indeed of Thailand.

For those reasons, I stand in full solidarity with the proposals and struggles of  Pom Mahakan community and support their and the IAI’s request for Zero Evictions policies, finding solutions respectful of all human rights, as pointed out by the Recommendations made by the 50^th  Session of UN Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Committee (2015) and those of the 1^st  Session of the International Tribunal on Evictions for East Asia (2016).

We kindly request your immediate response as a matter of urgency so that your decisions may be presented with due emphasis at the international level, in particular in support of an intervention of  the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing and at the UN Conference Habitat III (Quito, 17 to 20 October 2016).

Signatories (196)

• Mariantonia Tognon, Comune di Padova - Italy
• PIERRE LOUIS Liliane, - Burkina Faso
• Michele Storti, - Italy
• NOUWE TCHOUALACK Armand A., CODAS Caritas Douala - Cameroon
• DEHOUT GENEVIEVE, - Belgium
• PAOLO FERRERO, SEGRETARIO NAZIONALE DEL PARTITO DELLA RIFONDAZIONE COMUNISTA - Italy
• derbel rania, Un Sourire Pour Tous - Tunisia
• Blanchard Martine, - France
• Walter Petrucci, Unione Inquilini Roma - Italy
• Bolssens Baudouin, Rom en Rom ASBL - Belgium
• anna daminato, - Italy
• Paola Mancinelli, - Italy
• Lorenzo Tripodi, - Germany
• jokoniah mawopa , amandla - Zimbabwe
• BRUHIN Claude, - France
• Annalisa Caso, - Italy
• francesca rizzitiello, - Italy
• Massimo Bondioli , Amici di Emmaus - Italy
• Michele Citoni, - Italy
• Elizabeth Santos, Red Metropolitana de Inquilinos - Venezuela
• Luana Barigazzi, - Italy
• maria grazia meriggi, unibg, Flc-Cgil - Italy
• GOBILLE LESLIE, - New Caledonia
• Bowe Smith Philippa , - France
• HENRY Luc, - Belgium
• Peter Muzambwe, Amandla Centre of Zimbabwe - Zimbabwe
• ERNESTO DOMINGO PAEZ, Presidente MO.DE.VI..FA. (Movimiento en Defensa de la Vivienda Familiar) - Mendoza ARGENTINA - Argentina
• ALLALI ABDELLAH, RÉSEAU MAROCAIN POUR LE LOGEMENT DÉCENT "RMLD" - Morocco
• alessio surian, UPU - Italy
• Muhammad Aliyu Wayas, Civil Liberties Organization - Nigeria
• Hung-ying Chen Chen, Taiwan Alliance of Anti-Forced Eviction - Taiwan
• Estelle Pandao Lassus, - Germany
• Nina Heist, privat - Germany
• Rajesh Salam, Manipur Nature Society - India
• Aukje Simone Bilderbeek, - Paraguay
• renate diehl, private - Germany
• Shelly Browning, Public Banking - United States
• Jose Ospina, Carbery Housing Association - Ireland
• Garay Jesus L., UPV-EHU - Spain
• Bret Thiele, Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights - Switzerland
• Erik Schnabel, - United States
• Dr. Polladach THEERAPAPPISIT, UniSA, Australia - Australia
• Inthira Vittayasomboon, - Thailand
• Massimo Pasquini, Unione Inquilini - Italy
• Prashant Anthony, People's Responsible Organisation of United Dharavi(PROUD) - India
• Abdallah Alhassan Ibn, Slum Union of Ghanan - Ghana