Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Capt Thamanat Prompow yesterday told the House of Representatives that efforts are underway to settle a land dispute between the Agricultural Land Reform Office (Alro) and the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP).
Addressing questions concerning the dispute over land plots near Khao Yai National Park raised by Move Forward Party list-MP Apichart Sirisunthorn, the minister said both state agencies properly followed the law and that the conflict resulted from both parties using different maps.
He said that now that the Defence Ministry has stepped in to draw up a One Map system, the One Map should resolve any disagreements regarding land ownership nationwide, not just the 3,000-rai plot in Tambon Moosi inside Khao Yai National Park.
There should be "one land, one law", he said.
The minister also criticised officials who designated buffer zones for the agricultural land reform programme and laid down the policy that buffer zones must not be given to any individual.
"Alro must review and learn from incidents of elephants destroying plantations in Khao Yai," he said.
"Allocating land in the buffer zone to people should never be done. Because whatever the farmers plant, wild animals may come and destroy it. At the same time, it's hard to prevent the farmers from invading the forest."
The minister vowed to ensure that the 22 million rai of land under the Alro programme will be properly allocated to landless farmers and will not touch forest land.
He said he has already ordered a probe into the issuance of Sor Kor Por land documents and the transfer of six officials to facilitate the inquiry as Arlo and the DNP wait for the conclusion from the One Map committee.
Capt Thamanat also threatened to take legal action against corrupt officials and land grabbers including asking the Anti Money Laundering Office (Amlo) to look into their finances and seize their ill-gotten assets.
Earlier on Wednesday, at an event marking Alro's 49th anniversary, Capt Thamanat said the dispute has destroyed the public's confidence in Alro.
He said he would order Alro to ascertain that the list of 1,628,520 farmers eligible for the rights does not include nominees, particularly real estate developers and investors. Any resorts or hotels found on Sor Por Kor land will face legal action, he said.
Alro, meanwhile, should urgently allocate the land to people who are in need, he added, because the process has already been delayed.
The lands designated with Sor Por Kor rights nationwide include 10.71 million rai in the Northeast, 5.23 million rai in the North, 3.56 million rai in the Central region and 2.56 million rai in the South, according to Alro.
Regarding the Khao Yai land dispute, the minister said that a team of anti-graft officials is investigating the case.
Chaiwat Limlikit-aksorn, director of the National Park Department, said that all related stakeholders, including the military, Alro and the Department of Land would visit the controversial site for overlapping borderline clearance next week.