Bangkok Post – Squatters lose court case, jail terms suspended

Four defendants who lived in a townhouse for six years agree to end the litigation

Four people who illegally lived in a Bangkok townhouse for more than six years were sentenced to nine months in prison, but the sentences were suspended by a criminal court.

The Min Buri Criminal Court on Tuesday sentenced Sriwan Samakkhee, Nittaya Samakhee, Pholkrit Thongkham and Malee Kinnoi to one year in prison and fined them 20,000 baht each for trespassing, theft and illegally occupying the house of a man known only as Hemmathas.

However, the court reduced the sentences to nine months and the fines to 11,000 baht each after the four pleaded guilty. Due to her being a first-time offender and her age, which was not disclosed, the sentences were suspended for two years.

The case caused quite a stir when it first came to light in the Thai media earlier this year.

Mr Hemmathas bought the townhouse at Ramindra Soi 58 in Khannayao district in 1991 but did not live there. He gave it to his nephew, known only as Sun, as a wedding present last year.

The squatters, the owner’s neighbors, confiscated the house in 2017 and even renovated it after moving in.

When the nephew viewed the house last year, he was not allowed into it. The defendants alleged that they took adverse possession to take control of the home because the owner left it unattended.

unwanted possession, Commonly known as “squatter’s rights”, it allows a person to acquire ownership of a property if the person has “peacefully and openly” owned property belonging to another person with the intent to be its owner for a continuous period of 10 years.

The occupiers came under enormous public pressure after their actions were widely reported in the media. One of them committed suicide in February after public opinion began to affect her family.

The woman had been named as a defendant, but her name was removed from the case by prosecutors after her death.

The defendants agreed to pay Mr Hemmatha 1 million baht as compensation for their illegal occupation ahead of Tuesday’s court ruling.

Amnuayporn Maneewan, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said the case was over because the defendants had not appealed the verdict to a higher court.

The wife of Mr Hemmathas’ nephew, identified only as Sarocha, said after the court hearing that the verdict should be a lesson to every illegal resident that their wrongdoing must be punished.

Occupying other people’s property should not be seen as normal in society, she added.