The Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry has kicked off inspections which could lead to the demolition of more than 400 resorts for encroaching on public land in Nakhon Ratchasima's Wang Nam Khieo district.
Thanadol Suwannarit, chairman of the ministry's task force investigating cases of illegal land ownership under the Agricultural Land Reform Office (Alro), led a raid on the Golden Mountain Resort in tambon Wang Nam Khieo in a joint operation with the Anti-Money Laundering Office (Amlo) and the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) on Tuesday.
The resort is located on 73 rai of land and is jointly owned by a former local politician, known as Kamnan Nor, and two other individuals.
Kamnan Nor served as MP for Nakhon Ratchasima from 2007 to 2018. He was a member of the Puea Pandin Party, the Bhumjaithai Party, the Palang Pracharath Party and the Thai Local Power Party.
The three co-owners were charged with encroachment by the Nakhon Ratchasima Provincial Land Reform Office in 2013.
The case was settled in 2018, with the court ruling the three must demolish their property and restore the land to its original state by 2020.
They were also required to pay 1.98 million baht in damages with interest.
Mr Thanadol said the raid was carried out as ordered by Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Thamanat Prompow.
At least 437 other resorts in Wang Nam Khieo district have encroached on public land, reports say.
Ten of them, including the Golden Mountain Resort, have been ordered demolished by the court.
Alro will demolish Golden Mountain Resort, which consists of 18 buildings.
The office also plans to file a case in the Civil Court against the owners of encroaching resorts to obtain compensation for damages and press for demolition costs.
The Nakhon Ratchasima Provincial Land Reform Office will inspect the resorts before deciding whether they should be demolished and seek court orders for the demolitions.
According to Mr Thanadol, the agency will file criminal cases against owners of resorts found guilty of encroachment.
It was also reported many residents in Wang Nam Khieo district support the move to reclaim land from such businesses and want Alro to either rent out the land, use it to serve the public interest or allocate it to landless farmers.