'Kamnan Sia' and wife get 11 years jail for seizing state land

They had encroached on a large plot of state land in Kanchanaburi and turned it into a farm 14 years ago. Pracha is a former influential kamnan in the province.
The Criminal Court added a one-year term to Pracha’s |sentence for another case of land encroachment in the same province, following a court verdict last year, taking his total punishment to 12 years and four months.
Pracha, 72, and Khmephorn Tangjaiyen, 49, were later released on Bt1.1–million bail each after saying they will appeal the verdict.
Both were initially sentenced to 17 years for encroachment and exploiting protected state land, but the terms were cut by a third after they gave useful information.
The judges also ordered workers and their homes to be removed from Khempracha Farm in Bor Phloi district, first occupied in 2001.