The Royal Forest Department has agreed to examine the legitimacy of land owned by the mother of Future Forward Party (FFP) leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit in Ratchaburi province after Palang Pracharath Party MP Pareena Kraikupt asked it to apply equal standards in all cases.
Atthaphon Charoenchansa, chief of the department, said a representative of Somporn Juangroongruangkit had already provided the department with title Nor Sor 3 and Nor Sor 3 Kor deeds for much of the 3,098 rai spanning 77 plots in Ratchaburi's Chom Bueng district. Ms Somporn also appointed her representative to inform forest officials about the borders of her land.
The border-delineation process should be completed within the next few days, said Mr Atthaphon. The department would then ask the Department of Lands to verify the accuracy of the landholding. If any forest encroachment was found, legal action would be taken.
"We apply the same standard in all cases. If illegality is found, we will definitely take legal action. We won't apply double standards," he said.
Ms Pareena, who is accused of land encroachment in Ratchaburi, yesterday submitted a letter to the department demanding that Ms Somporn's landholding also be examined for possible forest encroachment.
"We have solid evidence that Ms Somporn occupied the land under Por Bor Tor 5 rules even though she has already returned the land to the state. But she definitely committed the mistake. Her case is not different from my case," she said.
She was referring to an earlier complaint filed with the government's complaint centre that Ms Somporn had illegally occupied 500 rai of community forest in Chom Bueng district. The case, in which Ms Pareena took a role, was settled without legal action when Ms Somporn returned the land.
Ms Pareena is being probed over a complaint that her chicken farm in the same district occupies land earmarked for poor farmers under Agricultural Land Reform Office criteria.
She finally returned the land to Alro this month. The Royal Forest Department has also launched legal action over 711 rai of land registered to Ms Pareena that allegedly encroaches on the forest zone.