SRT has edge in land dispute

The Central Administrative Court has favoured a petition from the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) against the Department of Lands (DoL) and its director general for dereliction of duty regarding plots of land totalling 5,083 rai in the Khao Kradong area of Buri Ram's Muang district.

The SRT filed the case in September 2021 demanding the DoL revoke its 900 land title deeds and remove all people from its property after the Supreme Court stated that the land belonged to the SRT in 2021.

Of the 900 land titles, 12 land title deeds or 179 rai in total belonged to the Chidchob family, a powerful political clan in the province. They run several businesses on the land including Buriram International Circuit and a 32,600-seat football stadium.

The SRT also demanded damages of 700 million baht be paid by the DoL but this request was overruled by the court.

Chayawut Chanthorn, the DoL director-general, said the agency accepted the ruling.

The DoL will meet today to decide whether to appeal the case and launch its own investigation. The result is expected within 60 days.

He said the DoL will revoke the land title deeds if any were illegally issued, adding that may have been caused by human error.

Mr Chayawut said the DoL had set up a committee in the past and found errors occurred because the DoL and SRT used different maps.

"The Central Administrative Court has a clear order today that the SRT, which claims ownership of the land, needs to work with the DoL to recheck the boundary of the Khao Kradon site,'' he said.

The DoL will also investigate a survey of the land plot used in the 1996 version of the map used by the SRT because the DoL has another version of the area map, he said.