High rise $100m luxury apartment block dubbed 'Batman's Lair' faces demolition over car park access

A luxury high-rise apartment block overlooking Bangkok's Soi Cowboy red-light strip faces demolition over a technicality with the access to its car park. The 50-story high 'Ashton Asoke' tower opened in 2017 with 783 units at a cost of more than 100 million dollars for the publicly-listed developers Ananda Development. Shoe-box style rooms in the skyscraper measuring just 35 square metres cost around 10 million Baht (227,000 GBP) and they have a view of the city's historic row of gogo bars on either side. However, the futuristic but imposing black cladding on the building angered residents and it was dubbed 'Batman's Lair'. Government chiefs have now ruled that the building's car park, which is shared with a subway station, is illegal. The developers must now provide refunds for buyers of rooms in the building and have been warned they must demolish the tower unless they can find a new entrance. The owners have reportedly offered building owners on either side of a small alleyway, seen in the video, cash to buy their properties to demolish them and make a wider entrance. However, both have refused to sell. Naruemon Mekborisut, a deputy director at the Foundation for Consumers, said state agencies did not perform in accordance with their duties when planning proposals were initially submitted. She added that this allowed the property developer to proceed with an illegal project, ultimately ending with the court revoking its permit and consumers suffering the consequences. Naruemon noted that the businesses responsible must first return the money received for the condo units to all buyers with interest. She also said her foundation viewed the property developer filing complaints with agencies that approved the construction as a separate matter unrelated to reimbursing consumers. Chaloemphong Klapdi, head of a lawyers' center for consumer protection, said the business operator was in breach of the agreement as consumers had already purchased the units but were unable to reside in them. Consumers, therefore, have the right to revoke the agreement and request a full refund with interest. Chaloemphong said the Foundation for Consumers stands ready to aid buyers in filing legal suits against the project owner. Consumers impacted by the Ashton condo affair can file their complaint to the Foundation for Consumers by emailing [email protected].