The Ministry of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives has agreed to revoke all Sor Por Kor land certificates for all land reform plots in the Khao Yai area, to end the land dispute between the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation and Nakhon Ratchasima Agricultural Land Reform Office (ALRO).

The decision was announced by Agriculture Minister Thammanat Prompao at a joint meeting of representatives from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the ALRO and the Army Survey Department, convened to resolve the land dispute in Khao Yai National Park.

In his capacity as chair of the agricultural land reform committee, Thammanat also instructed the ALRO to refrain from allocating land close to forests or national parks tolandless farmers under the land reform scheme.

The agriculture minister told the joint meeting that, even though it was proved that the land close to forests or national parks belongs to ALRO, Sor Por Kor land certificates will be revoked and the land will be turned into buffer zones, to prevent farmers from settling on the land.

Jatuporn Buruspat, permanent secretary of natural resources and environment, said that the meeting on Wednesday went smoothly in an amicable atmosphere, despite the land dispute.

He said that an MoU will be signed between ALRO and the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation to establish a joint committee to resolve future land disputes.

On Wednesday evening, Chaiwat Limlikhitaksorn, chief of the Office of National Parks, led a team to inspect a disputed plot of land in the Pang Asoke forest in Klang Dong sub-district ofNakhon Ratchasima, after some people were arrested for allegedly clearing land with a backhoe.

The team found freshly-erected demarcation stones for land reform area.