Interior Minister Phumtham Wechayachai has given the director general of the Land Department seven days to explain why he has not complied with a court order to reclaim about 800 hectares of State Railway of Thailand (SRT) land, at Khao Kradong in Muang district of Buri Ram, from alleged trespassers, among them the Chidchob family.
He warned today that the Land Department’s director-general, Pornpote Phenpat, may face consequences if he fails to give a clear explanation within seven days.
He also said that he has instructed the interior permanent secretary to set up a panel to clear up the controversy and to find out why the Land Department has refused to revoke the land occupation documents, such as Sor Kor 1 and Nor Sor, issued to hundreds of trespassers claiming land occupation rights over the land, as ordered by the Supreme Court.
In response, Bhumjaithai party leader Anutin Charnvirakul insisted that, while serving as the interior minister, he and the Land Department had fully complied with the law and had not done anything in favour of the Chidchob family.
He claimed that the Supreme Court had handed down a ruling on the case before he was appointed the interior minister.
The Chidchob family is reported to occupy about 24 hectares of land at Khao Kradong, which has been developed into the Chang International Arena, and another 192 hectare plot, known as the Chang International Circuit.
The Khao Kradong land controversy has pitted the ruling Pheu Thai party against the opposition Bhumjaithai party. It is widely viewed as a tit-for-tat scrap between the two parties, with the Pheu Thai party wanting to get back at the Chidchob family over their litigation against the Shinawatra family related to the Alpine golf course controversy.
The SRT has filed suits with the court to reclaim land, held by several entities at Khao Kradong, but not against the Chidchob family, whose patriarch, Newin Chidchob, is reputed to be the de facto leader of the Bhumjaithai party. In 2017, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the SRT, but the SRT, under the supervision of Transport Ministry, which was then controlled by the Bhumjaithai party, has refused to revoke the documentation held by the alleged trespassers.
The case was later raised with the Administrative Court, which also ruled in favour of the SRT. The case is now pending with the Supreme Administrative Court.
The Administrative Court ruled that the Land Department was not authorised to issue the land occupation documents, because the land belongs to the SRT. It ordered the SRT and the Land Department to set up a joint panel to work out a solution to the dispute.
The Land Department has, however, complained that the SRT is a party in the land dispute and, therefore, should not sit on the joint panel. The Land Department has demanded that the SRT submit a map to prove its ownership rights over the Khao Kradong land.
According to a legal expert, Jade Donavanik, the map presented by the SRT was dated 1996, which was not the 1921 version demanded by Land Department.
Meanwhile, the Land Department also produced four maps, dated 1954, 1968, 1986 and 2014, but they are all different, said Jade, adding that the SRT has also failed to submit a new map to the Land Department, as required, in to prove its ownership.
This is why the legal dispute over the land remains unresolved, said Jade.
