A RESTAURANT owner has complained about the alleged encroachment on his beachfront property adjoining the eatery and his house by a family of  five locals.

Mark Cullimore, owner of the BBC restaurant located next to the entrance of the famous Big Buddha, said the family six years ago “kindly asked us if they could please stay until their new house was completed in Plai Leam, and until their son finished school.”

Six years later, Cullimore, said, they have not vacated the place, although they had already built a house in Plai Leam, which remains unoccupied. 

“When I ask them to move they tell me, ‘We are Thai people and can stay anywhere. Farangs cannot tell us to go.’ I had to create a website so that I could share this story with others because it is just so unbelievable,” Cullimore said. (The website is www.bbcrestaurant.com/squatters.htm.)

The Nathon tessaban has ordered the Thai family to move their house back from Cullimore’s by at least 50 cm. “Why they didn’t tell them to leave completely is beyond me,” said Cullimore.

Cullimore said the removal of a brick wall caused even more damage to his house, and his children have to sleep in the living room because of a leaking roof. Also, even though they are moving their house back from Cullimore’s, they are making improvements to the interior of their own house indicating that they do not appear to be going anywhere anytime soon.

“It is so bad that we are currently looking to move out of this house and rent another until this situation is over. The other day I was taking a photo of them dumping their trash into the ocean and the papa called me the equivalent of ‘crazy’ in Thai. He just might be right as this whole experience has made me a little crazy,” Cullimore said with a forced smile.

Lately Cullimore’s story has been getting a lot of attention from both Thais and expats. Many of them have visited Cullimore to see for themselves the situation created by this particular Thai family. Some government officials have also visited Cullimore and promised that they would take action, but so far the encroaching family has yet to leave.

Cullimore said that meanwhile they had found a house that they would rent until the Thai family leaves  the property it had encroached upon.

“It is a real shame that we have to move out of our own house but what else can we do?” he said.—Robert Greer