AYUTTHAYA — Dozens of merchants at a market squatting on a UNESCO-designated historical site were resisting eviction Wednesday despite being deprived of water and electricity.
Nearly 160 vendors at Wat Phra Mongkhon Bophit in Ayutthaya city were without utilities after they were shut off this morning by the authorities, who want them to leave the UNESCO World Heritage Site encompassing the ruins of the old capital city.
A parking lot near the market is also closed to ban tourists from entering.
Officials say the vendors have no right to the land and have asked them to relocate their stalls about a kilometer away.
Some of the vendors agreed to move out and carried away their tents and goods today. Some didn’t.
The market at Wat Phra Mongkhon Bophit has been an issue for over five years. Merchants said they would lose many customers if they moved away from the location.
