The Agricultural Land Reform Office has resolved to seize 682 rai of land occupied by Palang Pracharath Party MP Pareena Kraikupt in Ratchaburi province, and she will be given seven days to hand it over.
Alro secretary-general Vinaroj Sapsongsuk on Friday announced the seizure of Khao Son chicken farm in Chom Bung district of the central province.
An investigation confirmed the 682 rai was part of a land reform area, and Ms Pareena had no right to occupy it, Mr Vinaroj said.
Alro will send a letter notifying the government MP for Ratchaburi to return the land within 7 days. The letter will take 2-3 days to prepare and will be issued on Monday, the Alro secretary-general said.
The land will later be allocated to farmers who have no land of their own, so they can make a better living. If Ms Pareena did not return the land, Alro would use authority granted under an order issued by the former National Council for Peace and Order to seize the land, and take criminal action against her, he said.
Alro's investigation of the Ratchaburi land was according to laws and guidelines laid down by Deputy Agriculture Minister Thamanat Prompow, Mr Vinaroj said.
There were no double standards in the case. Anyone found to have unlawfully occupied a land reform area would face the same action, he said.
However, Alro had not specified whether or not the 682-rai Khao Son land would encompass the 46 rai of land the Royal Forestry Department recently seized from the government MP.
Mr Vinaroj said Alro would not interfere with the investigation work by the RFD.
The RFD on Thursday put up a notice at the chicken farm run by Ms Pareena announcing the seizure of 46 rai of of land.
Earlier, forestry officials surveyed Ms Pareena’s chicken farm and found about 41 rai was in a reserved forest on the left side of the Phachee River, while more than 4 rai of the property was inside a forest.
Khao Son is a chicken farm, one of several blocks of land totalling 1,700 rai owned by the Ratchaburi MP in the district. Authorities are determining whether the other land also encroaches on a forest reserve.
The issued was first raised by Ruangkrai Leekitwattana, a former member of the dissolved Thai Raksa Chart Party, who alleged that parts of her 1,700 rai of land in Chom Bung were classified as Sor Por Kor -- reserved for land reform purposes and distribution to landless farmers.
The disputed land appeared on Ms Pareena’s list of assets totalling 169.7 million baht declared to the National Anti Corruption Commission when she became an MP. Mr Ruangkrai petitioned the anti-graft agency to investigate.