Son of deputy district police chief found encroaching into national park

The taskforce, recently set up under the Parks Department to fight major forest encroachment by influential figures, joined rangers from the park’s office as well as the Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Suppression Division in a raid on the land on Thursday. The deputy police chief’s son, who identified himself as Thorawat Changsorn, was among the first to be arrested during the operation. 

The raid followed the inspection of land in the national park on Wednesday, which found two plots over 400 rai encroaching into the national park. The officers seized the land and filed charges against the wrongdoers. 

Thorawat’s father Pol Lt-Colonel Sathit Changsorn claimed that his family had three documents, known as Sor Khor 1, showing their land-use rights. The documents are pending verification, and the case of issuing a land deed is already in court, he said. 

However, Chaiwat pointed out that the land has not been put to use for an extended period, and according to legal procedures, the land-use rights are considered invalid, which means the plot belongs to the park. Hence, he said, the owners must remove any properties they own that are encroaching upon the park under Article 22 of the Parks Act. 

Manot Wongsurirat, chief of the Hat Chao Mai National Park, also pointed out that satellite photos dating back to 1967 showed that the land has not been in use since then, which nullifies any private ownership claims.