The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) will ask the Land Department to revoke the land rights of people illegally encroaching on 244 rai of forest land in Phuket's Sirinart National Park.
DNP director-general Nipon Chotiban said investigators have uncovered evidence of investors encroaching on more than 3,000 rai of public land in the park.
Nipon: Wants land seizures sped up
Owners of two luxury resorts — Three Dolphins Resort and Phuket Peninsula Spa and Resort — are accused of encroaching on 244 rai of the land.
The DNP will ask the Department of Special Investigation to look into the case.
Mr Nipon was speaking yesterday after meeting his 20 DNP officials. He urged his staff to speed up plans to retake land held illegally by investors.
The DNP in June last year issued an order cracking down on forest encroachment in Phuket, Phangnga and Krabi provinces as part of a National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) push to retake encroached public land across the country.
In November, the DNP formed a task force to pursue its crackdown, after learning luxury resorts had been built inside the park.
Mr Nipon said some staff had found difficulty obtaining necessary land documents to prove who has encroached on the land.
His staff have also asked the Land Department to suspend issuing land title deeds to those who claim to own another 415 rai of land in the area, which is actually part of the park.
The department, he said, has set up a committee to look into the legality of another 374 rai of land.
Samak Donnapee, director of the National Park Office, said the DNP hopes to clear all forest encroachment cases by the end of next month. He said he will ask the Phuket governor to provide necessary land documents to the DNP.