More than 800 freshly-cut teak tree logs have been impounded after being found on land held under land reform title in Sukhothai’s Ban Dan Lan Hoi district, police said.
A combined team of 100 local officials, police, soldiers and forestry officials inspected the area, held under a Sor Por Kor 4-01 land reform title, in tambon Nong Yapong on Thursday and found hundreds of teak logs of various sizes stacked in piles.
Authorities said there were 876 logs in all, which could be sold for around 600,000 baht.
Lom Khongmuang, a local resident, claimed ownership of the logs. She told the officers she previously owned the land, but had given it to her son, Daoloy Khongmuang.
A businessman had later offered to buy the land from her son for 200,000 baht. Before ownership of the land was transferred, she asked that the teak trees be harvested first.
She claimed she had sought permission from a local forestry office to cut down trees on her land. She had no knowledge whether it was lawful or not to cut trees that grew naturally on her land.
Authorities seized the logs pending an inquiry. They will look into the woman’s claim she obtained permission to cut down the trees.