Phuket's Royal Forest Centre will order a big Buddha site on top of Nak Koet Hill in tambon Karon to be closed due to fears of further landslides after 13 people were killed in the area by landslides on Aug 23.
Sorasak Rananan, director of Phuket's Royal Forest Centre, said on Monday that his agency had inspected the area around the statue last Tuesday and had found that it had been built on about 20 rai of land, five rai of which is outside the area where it was permitted to be built.
It was previously reported that Wat Kittisankaram, where the giant Buddha statue is located, submitted a request to the Royal Forest Department last year to construct the 45-metre-tall statue on 15 rai of land in the Khao Nak Koet National Forest Reserve.
The statue was built by the Foundation of Phra Ming Monkul Sattha under the order of the National Office of Buddhism.
According to Mr Sorasak, officials have seized six buildings that are part of the temple, filed a complaint with Karon police against the foundation, and put up signs on the five rai of land that has been encroached on announcing that the department has seized it.
He also revealed that officials believe more landslides could occur in the area due to the wet land and big buildings located there.
According to reports, the Royal Forest Department would submit a request to the Phuket Provincial Office of Buddhism to call on the office to close the big Buddha site.
Mr Sorasak also asked visitors to pay respect to the Buddha statue from below instead of going upstairs to get close to the statue in order to prevent landslides, citing the current rainy season and forecasts by the Meteorological Department that say the area is likely to be hit by heavy rain.
The recent landslides killed 13 people and injured 19 others.
The Royal Forest Department said the landslides had been caused by the clearing of trees on the Nak Koet hilltop to make way for the placing of the statue.