Land office told to get tough on encroachment

The chief of the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) yesterday urged authorities to confiscate land plots in the controversial Wang Nam Kheow forest reserve if they are found to have been transferred to unqualified persons.

Ampon Wongsiri, secretary-general of the PACC, said the Agricultural Land Reform Office must quickly verify land-use rights in Nakon Ratchasima province's Wang Nam Kheow district.

If the rights have been transferred to persons who are not qualified to hold them, the office must take back the land plots, according to Ampon.

Hundreds of land plots in Wang Nam Kheow in the northeastern province have become the sites of resort hotels and private residences, instead of being used for agricultural purposes as required by law.

Ampon said officials could be held accountable for negligence if they did not take action against the illegal use of these land plots.

A preliminary finding showed that many users of land plots in the area do not have proper documents. In these cases, receipts of local land-tax payments are not valid as ownership documents.

The PACC is also conducting an investigation to find out if any documents have been wrongfully issued in the area by authorities, some of whom are alleged to have been bribed.

In the Wang Nam Kheow area, several influential businessmen and politicians have acquired land plots from local people who hold the rights to use the land for agriculture.

According to the law, the rights to use these plots cannot be transferred. If they are, or if the land plots are used for purposes other than agriculture, the rights must be revoked.

Besides the Wang Nam Kheow area, the PACC has launched an investigation into another case of alleged forest-reserve encroachment in the northern province of Chiang Mai.

According to Ampon, an ownership document was issued illegally for a land plot of more than 20 rai in Pong Yang sub-district.

The plot was found to be situated in a forest reserve, meaning no ownership document can be issued.

Meanwhile, Samur Chindapong, the president of the Tourism Business Association in Nakon Ratchasima, has proposed that the government set up a special tourism zone in Wang Nam Kheow.

Samur said tourism businesses in the area have been hit hard over the past few months, hurting the local economy and workers as several resort hotels have had to shut down.

As a result, Samur said, the government should consider establishing a special tourism zone in the district, similar to zones in Trat province's Koh Chang and Surat Thani's Koh Pa-ngan, which are also situated on forest reserve and national park land.