Khao Kradong row claims new victims

The Land Department has been given seven days to explain the Khao Kradong land issue. The timeline seems rather short for a land controversy which has bubbled away for decades.

- Veera Prateepchaikul

The dispute between the State Railway of Thailand, land owners and thousands of land dwellers who have acquired title deeds over the area in past decades, reflects political fighting between the coalition leader Pheu Thai Party, and former coalition member Bhumjaithai Party.

Interior Minister Phumtham Wechayachai has given the director-general of the Land Department seven days to explain why he has not complied with the court's order to reclaim approximately 800 hectares (5,000 rai) of land at Khao Kradong in Muang district of Buri Ram.

Successive court decisions have found the land is legally owned by the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) rather than the alleged trespassers, among them the Chidchob family, who are tied to the Bhumjaithai Party.

He said the Land Department's director-general, Pornpote Phenpat, will face the consequences if he fails to clarify clearly what has happened.

He also said he had instructed the interior permanent secretary to set up a panel to clear up the Khao Kradong controversy and find out why the department has refused to revoke the land occupation documents, such as Sor Kor 1 and Nor Sor documents, as ordered by the Supreme Court.