Sirinat National Park in Phuket is not what you would call big. It is just 90 square kilometres in size with 60 sq km of marine area and 22 sq km of that land. But rai for rai, the land in the park which comprises Hat Nai Thon, Hat Nai Yang, Hat Mai Khao and Hat Sai Kaew beaches is the most expensive of all the national parks in this country and, above all, is most sought after by land grabbers and real estate developers.
No wonder many park officials aspired to become chief of Sirinat National Park in the past. It is also no coincidence that five former chiefs of the park are now facing disciplinary investigation and possibly criminal charges for abetting land encroachment.
An estimated 3,000 rai of park land has been "stolen" and much of it transformed into five-star hotel complexes and resorts and luxurious mansions that only the super-rich can afford to buy.
The five former Sirinat park chiefs facing disciplinary probes ordered by the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plants Conservation are Somkiat Sunthornpitakkul, Sookkee Kamnuansilp, Charuay Inchan, Nonthavich Chaturabandhit and Thanapong Apaiso. Besides the five former park chiefs, several Phuket land officials as well as a former Phuket governor have been implicated in the land scandals.
Prior to the May 22 coup, the parks department appeared to be fighting a lonely battle against powerful and influential encroachers.
A national park in Phuket is worth fabulous amounts of money to developers, so watch how the military defends it, writes Veera Prateepchaikul. (Photo by Pornprom Satrabhaya)
According to Samak Donnapee, director of the National Parks Office, the department had lodged dozens of complaints with the local police against encroachers since 2012 but not a single case has made it to court.
Instead of relying on public prosecutors to take the cases against the alleged encroachers to court — which may never happen — Mr Samak suggested the department change tack and hire lawyers to do the job.
The reluctance of the police to follow up the complaints, or the prosecutors’ hesitation to proceed with the cases to court, shouldn’t come as a total surprise to people in Phuket over whether the law or money has the real say in the province.
Park officials who refused to bow to the power of influence have come under heavy pressure or been intimidated to the point that they can no longer work in the province.
Cheewapap Cheewatham, the former Sirinat park chief, asked to be transferred out of Phuket in May and his request was granted by Niphon Chotibarn, the deputy director-general of the National Parks Department.
Mr Cheewapap reportedly said he was offered 30 million baht to sign off on some 300 rai of park land as being outside the park so that paperwork could be processed and land rights documents issued by land officials. He declined the offer.
His successor, Kittipat Tharapiban, and his five assistants have recently asked to be transferred out of Phuket as well. However, Gen Dapong Rattanasuwan, the minister for natural resources and environment, intervened and asked Mr Kittipat and his men to stay on. The minister promised to send in troops to help them in their work and he will have a deputy director-general posted to Sirinat park to beef up the forces there.
It shouldn’t be a surprise as to why Mr Kittipat wanted out of Phuket after having served as the park chief there for barely six months. He was responsible for evicting 41 business operators from Hat Nai Thon, Hat Nai Yang and Hat Sai Kaew beaches and protested against the applications of five alleged encroachers for land ownership documents for 500 rai of land in Sirinat park that were handled by land officials.
With intervention from the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), it appears that the National Parks Department is not alone in its attempt to wrest back the park land from the alleged encroachers. The National Anti-Corruption Commission, the Department of Special Investigation, the Royal Thai Navy, the Anti-Money Laundering Office and the government sector’s anti-corruption commission have joined in to extend a helping hand.
The encroachment problem at Sirinat National Park will be a test of the NCPO’s resolve and whether its declaration to reclaim encroached forest land is for real or just for show.
Veera Prateepchaikul is a former editor, Bangkok Post.