Final ruling issued on Central Village access dispute

The Central Administrative Court has ordered Airports of Thailand Plc (AoT) to stop blocking entry to and exit from the Central Village luxury shopping centre — five years after an injunction was issued to end a 10-day dispute.
The ruling on Tuesday is the final word on a showdown that took place in August 2019, when the mall developer Central Pattana Plc (CPN) was preparing to open the 5-billion baht property near Suvarnabhumi Airport.
At the time AoT blocked entry to and exit from the mall on Highway 370, south of the airport, claiming it held the legal right to use and maintain the highway.
However, the court ruled that AoT had no authority to erect tents on the plot of state land in a manner that blocked entry to and exit from Central Village.
The court on Tuesday ordered AoT to pay 2.99 million baht, plus 7.5% interest, to the plaintiffs CPN and the mall operator CPN Village Co for the damage caused by the blockage.
The two parties originally accused AoT of unlawfully blocking entry to and exit from Central Village starting from Aug 22, 2019, just before its scheduled opening on Aug 30.
A court injunction on Aug 30, 2019 ordered AoT to remove the tents it had set up. The injunction also gave Central Village temporary protection from the airport operator’s actions until a final ruling could be made. That ruling came on Tuesday.