The issue of Sor Por Kor plots in Khao Yai National Park has devolved into a conflict between the Agricultural Land Reform Office (Alro) and the Department of National Parks over the map that the government uses to define which plots are Sor Por Kor and which are not.
The Royal Thai Survey Department (RTSD) under the Royal Thai Army insists its One Map system shows over 2,900 rai of Sor Por Kor land plots in Khao Yai National Park. But the Ministry of Environment disagrees. National parks chief Chaiwat Limlikhit-aksorn is going to ask the Administrative Court to rule against the use of One Map, which at this stage is just a pilot satellite map project -- not an official map that the government has used to demarcate land.
Mr Chaiwat stressed that in 1962, the government and state agencies used different map and land survey methods when establishing Khao Yai National Park.
However, the mapping issue is just a smoke screen that obscures the actual conundrum. The issue with the Sor Por Kor land reform policy is less about map technique and more about who the recipients of Sor Por Kor land are and what they are doing with the plots, which are indeed public assets. The problem with this Sor Por Kor policy is that public land -- sometimes prime forest in national parks -- has been declared as Sor Por Kor land and given to investors or even politicians.
Developed five decades ago with a noble goal to help landless farmers, Alro and the Sor Por Kor policy have courted controversy and corruption.
One glaring example is a case from three decades ago when veteran politician Suthep Thaugsuban oversaw the giving away of 10,536 rai of Sor Por Kor plots to 486 people. The beneficiaries included members of rich families in Phuket province, including the husband of a rich Democrat politician. The shameful exposure led to the dissolution of the Democrat-led government and the holding of a new election.
A more recent example was in 2017 when 12 Alro officials were given 10-year jail terms for declaring 150 rai of land near the entrance of Khao Yai National Park as Sor Por Kor plots and selling it to investors for 10 million baht per rai.
This week, Agriculture Minister Capt Thamanat Prompow announced a probe of 10 Alro officials for giving Sor Por Kor lands to developers.
Needless to say, the Sor Por Kor policy needs major surgery. But the One Map solution that this government and Capt Thamanat are championing risks creating more trouble as it will always contravene other agencies. The public cynically expects Alro officials to use the new map technology to declare prime plots in national parks for private developers.
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, as chairperson of the national land committee, must intervene and oversee real and meaningful Sor Por Kor policy reform.
First, the ongoing Alro plan to upgrade 20 million rai of Sor Por Kor land into transferable title deeds and give them to farmers must be put on hold.
A nationwide land survey -- carried out by multi-agencies, not only by Alro -- needs to be launched to inspect plots and holders. Any misuse needs to be dealt with through strong penalties and criminal charges.
In future, the government must cascade Sor Por Kor land management to a special national committee and provincial, instead of letting Alro make all the decisions.
Without a major overhaul, Sor Por Kor will continue to allow large-scale corruption that results in more prime public land finding its way into the hands of rich, corrupt individuals.