A proposal to invoke the powerful Section 44 of the interim charter to settle the issue of Sor Por Kor land being used for business activities beyond agriculture, such as petroleum, renewable energy and mining, will go before the cabinet Tuesday for approval.
According to Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam, the issue is considered urgent because to do nothing would hurt private investment.
The land dispute emerged earlier this year when the Supreme Administrative Court ruled that renting out Sor Por Kor land for wind farms in Chaiyaphum when the land had been designated for farming purposes only was not permissible. The court ordered the revocation of a licence to develop a wind farm there.
Earlier this month, the same court revoked the Agricultural Land Reform Committee's order allowing the use of natural resources in land reform ares for any purposes other than agriculture, leading to seven upstream petroleum projects being halted, trimming 16,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed) in production, or roughly 2% of the country's total oil demand.
SET-listed PTTEP, Thailand's only upstream oil firm, was party to 15,000 boed.
Apart from PTTEP, the six other companies affected by the order are CNPHK Thailand Ltd, Eco Orient Resources Thailand Ltd, PTTEP SP, Apico Khorat Ltd, Twinza Oil Ltd and Yanchang Petroleum Thailand Ltd.
According to Mr Wissanu, Section 44 seems to be the best way to handle the land dispute, as it will cut through existing regulations, allowing Sor Por Kor land to be used for purposes other than agriculture, such as petroleum, renewable energy and mining.
"There are also other options such as revoking the Sor Por Kor land; amending Agricultural Land Reform Act and exercising Section 19 and Section 30 of the Agricultural Land Reform Act to issue regulations to allow the land to be used for other purposes," he said. "But the first option will lead farmers to lose their status, because the Sor Por Kor land, once revoked, will legally become the Treasury Department's, which will be subject to annual rental fees, while the second option takes time and the third will only allow for wind farms.
He said Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has insisted that a Section 44 order will focus only on land that is not suitable for agricultural use.
Mr Wissanu said the Section 44 will also not cover the lands that violate town planning, and environment-related laws.