Police, soldiers and forestry officials on Tuesday raided three seafood restaurants on Samut Songkhram's Don Hoi Lod mudflats to reclaim mangrove forests.
The owners of the Khun Lin, Khrae Mai and Thep Nimit restaurants admitted they had no land ownership papers and agreed to return the encroached area to the state, said Thanet Mannoi, the leader of the task force who works for the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources.
Mr Thanet said the raid involving more than 100 officers was part of the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources' operation to rehabilitate mangrove forests in Samut Songkhram.
He said officials found three restaurants on the Doi Hon Lod mudflats in Muang district encroached on the mangroves. The three premises covered about 12 rai of state land.
He said the operators would face a charge of state land encroachment under forestry legislation and another charge of illegal construction under maritime law.
Mr Thanet said more raids could be expected as authorities would expand their operations to cover coastal areas.
Don Hoi Lod lies along the coast of Samut Songkhram province, 80km east-south-east of Bangkok. (Google Maps)
Ekkasit Hongharn, 39, owner of the Khun Lin restaurant, said Tuesday he was ready to comply with the law and would close the restaurant, which has been in business for over two decades.
He said when his parents opened the restaurant, Don Hoi Lod was relatively unknown to tourists. When he took over, he was determined to keep its original environment and grow more mangrove trees.
The Doi Hon Lod mudflats, a habitat for razor clams and registered as a wetland of international importance in 2000, is a popular tourist stop where dozens of seafood restaurants are located.
In Bangkok, the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Tuesday launched a special task force to safeguard national parks and their wildlife.
The task force called praya sua in Thai, or King of the Tigers, is led by former chief of Kaeng Krachan National Park Chaiwat Limlikitaksorn.
Department director-general Thanya Nethitammakul said he expected the task force to protect the country's natural resources.