Phetchabun governor moots transfer of encroached forest land to Treasury Department
Phetchabun Governor Seubsak Iamwijarn said on Monday (September 14) that he was planning to meet with Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan and Deputy Finance Minister Santi Promphat this week to discuss the encroachment on national forest lands by hotel operators in Khao Kho, Phuhin Rongkla and Nam Nao national parks.
“The province aims to propose a way to solve the problem by changing the land status from national forest land to state land under the Treasury Department, which would help legalise more than 1,000 resorts and hotels in Phetchabun that have been operating on those lands,” he said.
“Previously, the National Land Policy Committee had announced that the lands in Khao Kho National Park that were in dispute for encroachment be allotted to 595 local volunteers to promote local ownership. But that failed to fix the problem since the lands are still in the national forest area which prohibits the building of resort or any commercial use.”
Seubsak explained that if the lands in dispute were labelled as state land and transferred to the administration of the Treasury Department, resort operators would be able to apply for commercial use of those lands and legalise their operation without having to move out. “This will end the dispute as well as help promote tourism and the local economy in Phetchabun.”
Seubsak clarified that the proposed approach does not advocate the selling of national forest land for profit, as those resort operators are local people who have been on those lands before the announcement of national forest lands.
“The province is still committed to preventing any parties from encroaching on forest lands after the announcement,” he added.