Khao Yai Park land row will take '2 months' to fix

Khao Yai Park land row will take '2 months' to fix

An official last week points to a map showing the boundary of Khao Yai National Park, a section of which is part of a land dispute over Sor Por Por 4-01 documents for landless farmers. (Photo: Chanat Katanyu)
An official last week points to a map showing the boundary of Khao Yai National Park, a section of which is part of a land dispute over Sor Por Por 4-01 documents for landless farmers. (Photo: Chanat Katanyu)

Defence Minister Sutin Klungsang said on Sunday the dispute over land plots near Khao Yai National Park shouold be resolved in two months.

Three sub-committees have been formed to address the issue and they will give input to the One Map preparation committee which is determining which plots are designated for the land reform programme and which are classified as forest reserves, he said.

The One Map committee's intervention follows a row between the Agricultural Land Reform Office (Alro) and the Department of National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) over almost 3,000 rai of land in tambon Moosi, in Pak Chong district, inside the park.

Arlo insisted the land was lawfully designated as agricultural land and did not overlap with national park land as claimed by the DNP.

Mr Sutin said the sub-committees are a technical committee, legal committee and policy committee.

"The technical committee will go to the disputed areas and examine the boundaries. It has staff from various agencies including the Royal Thai Survey Department (RTSD), the DNP and local administrators.

"The work should be completed in two months, unless there are weather-related issues," Mr Sutin said.

The One Map system is aimed at standardising the maps used by state agencies and should , during his visit to the northeastern province of Nong Khai.help authorities deal with illegal ownership of forest reserves or Sor Por Kor land reform plots.

Agriculture Minister Capt Thamanat Prompow said on Sunday he has ordered Alro to revoke the land ownership papers for five Sor Por Kor plots after they are identified as located in the buffer zone.

He said the ministry will wait for the One Map preparation committee's findings after state agencies decided to use the One Map system to resolve disagreements nationwide.

He also insisted Alro has strictly adhered to the law, but said the problem results from the use of different maps by different agencies.

Capt Thamanat said an upcoming meeting will ensure Alro officials nationwide adhere to the buffer zone guideline and investigate suspected irregularities in the issuance of Sor Por Kor land.

Meanwhile, Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) leader Prawit Wongsuwon on Sunday promised to proceed with a policy to upgrade Sor Por Kor land use certificates to land deeds.

Speaking during a visit to the northeastern province of Nong Khai, he said the Sor Por Kor land document upgrade is one of the party's core policies.

He said the Agriculture Ministry and the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry, which is supervised by the PPRP, will address land problems based on accurate information.

Do you like the content of this article?
COMMENT (9)