The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation will petition the Appeal Court after the Krabi Provincial Court last month granted a man the right to possess land on Poda Island.
Thanya Nethithammakul, chief of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, said the department has set up a committee to look into the case. The panel will gather information to present to the higher court. "Please do not worry. We will make an appeal to the court and we are ready to fight. We are gathering information to show our rights to the land," he said.
The Krabi court last month ruled in favour of Chuan Phukhaoluan, a wealthy businessman in Krabi province, after he submitted a land title deed document to the court in 2015. The court asked the department's officials to leave the property.
The department is putting up buildings and facilities at Poda Island and many millions of baht have been spent on the projects. Nattapol Rattanaphan, director of Marine National Park Division, who is also the special committee's secretary, said it will take about a week to get a copy of the ruling.
Later, the special committee will consider it in detail to come up with points to fight the case in court. The department has asked the court to extend the period of appeal. He said the department will not stop the work until the court rules. The site is about 20 rai, which is not linked to the 70 rai of land on the same island where the Supreme Court reached a ruling in favour of the department.
The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation filed a complaint about the businessman over encroachment in 1985, and the Supreme Court in 2011 ruled in its favour. Forest officials in 2014 came to remove buildings belonging to Mr Chuan on the island.