The Department of Special Investigation will seek invocation of Section 44 of the interim constitution to combat forest encroachment on Phuket’s Koh Naka Noi.
Pol Lt Col Prawut Wongseenin, director of the DSI's Bureau of Consumer Protection and Environment Crime, said on Wednesday that department officials would propose that Justice Minister Gen Paiboon Koomchaya obtain an order from the prime minister within 1-2 days to use Section 44 to prohibit tree clearing on the island in tambon Pa Khok of Phuket's Thalang district.
The move followed a petition from TV actor Puri Hiranprueck and his family to investigate allegedly unlawful clearing of land. The actor said armed men claimed they were hired to clear a protected forest near his family's property.
The island has abundant natural resources and is a habitat of hornbills, said Mr Puri.
The DSI had not yet sought revocation of land titles for any parcels on the island, as the encroachment case is being forwarded to the Special Case Committee, said Pol Lt Col Prawut.
Regarding the Hiranprueck family's complaint, the DSI had examined land ownership near the family's. An initial investigation found discrepancies in a Nor Sor 3 Kor issued for the forest plot, he said.
The DSI also found that a Sor Khor 1 document earlier had been issued for a parcel on Naka Yai island for construction of a temple school, he said.
Earlier, Charnwit Kitlertsiriwattana, owner of Six Mountains Co, who had bought land on Koh Naka Noi for 42 million baht, had asked the DSI to examine the issuance of land titles for his plots. He claimed he had bought the land from several property owners, Thai media reported.
Meanwhile, Phuket governor Chamroen Thippayawongthada said on Wednesday that he has ordered an investigation into alleged encroachment on Koh Naka Noi.
He has assigned deputy governor Chokdee Amornwiwat and relevant agencies to revoke land documents on all encroached plots.