BANGKOK, March 5 (TNA) – The Transport Ministry has assured that a new electric railway extension project will spare a 237-year-old shrine of a Buddhist temple.
Sorapong Paitoonpong, deputy permanent secretary for transport, wrote in the Facebook page of Wat Iam Woranut quoting the Mass Rapid Transit Authority as confirming that the construction of an extension of the Purple Line would not affect the shrine of revered Luang Pu Thuat and the Transport Ministry would have MRTA minimize impacts on the Buddhist temple.
The Transport Ministry responded to criticisms on possible impacts on Wat Iam Woranut near Bang Khun Phrom intersection.
Representatives of the temple complained on its Facebook page that the temple and its buildings would be expropriated for the construction of the southern extension of the Purple Line that would also cost the 237-year-old shrine. The expropriation would leave little space for the already small temple that covers an area of 2.5 rai (4,000 square meters).
The cabinet approved expropriation to pave the way for the 23.6-kilometer-long extension route from Tao Poon to Rat Burana. MRTA has surveyed about 100 rai of expropriated land. The construction was expected to begin in either August or September this year and be completed in 2027.
Wat Iam Woranut, former known as Wat Thong Khung, was built in 1784. It houses many sacred objects including an image of revered Luang Pu Thuat in the shrine. (TNA)
