Authorities investigating public land encroachment in Khao Yai National Park in Nakhon Ratchasima's Pak Chong district say the Bonanza Resort's racetrack has encroached on 110 rai of forest and Sor Por Kor agricultural reform land.
Pol Maj Gen Thanet Sunthornsuk, deputy chief of Police Region 3, made the revelation yesterday after a meeting between officials probing the Bonanza International Speedway racetrack, which allegedly encroaches on Khao Sied-Ar, Khao Nok Yoong and Khao Ang-Hin forest reserves.
Pol Maj Gen Thanet said 35 rai of forest reserve and 75 rai of Sor Por Kor land were encroached upon by the race circuit.
Pol Maj Gen Thanet said officials from a local tambon administration organisation yesterday went to the area to investigate whether the racetrack also encroached on a public waterway.
Of about 166 rai taken up by the resort's race circuit, only 55 rai has Nor Sor 3 Kor land documents, Pol Maj Gen Thanet said.
A final report will be drawn up on Monday to determine which agencies have had land encroached upon, and they will be able to lodge lawsuits against the violators, he said.
The Royal Forestry Department (RFD) will be responsible for tearing down installations on the prohibited land, but it must obtain a court order first, he said.
Pol Maj Gen Thanet said he had not yet received additional land papers to certify the resort's land use.
Meanwhile, authorities are still probing alleged encroachment by Kirimaya Golf Resort and Spa in Nakhon Ratchasima's Pak Chong district. The property reportedly belongs to one of the co-leaders of the People's Democratic Reform Committee.
Pol Col Dussadee Arayawuth, deputy permanent secretary for justice, said he was told by investigators surveying the area that some parts of the property encroach on Sor Por Kor land.
The property was also found to overlap on the self-help settlement land, overseen by the Cooperative Promotion Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, he said.
Pol Col Dussadee said investigators believe the land was initially set aside for Sor Por Kor agricultural reform land for the landless.
As the title deeds cannot be issued on the Sor Por Kor land, the self-help settlement scheme stepped in and issued Nor Kor 3 documents, which can be upgraded to land title deeds for people who have held the documents for at least five years.
The examination of the land documents is expected to be completed next week, he said.
The investigation will widen to determine whether land department, Sor Por Kor scheme and self-help settlement project officials colluded to commit the offence, Pol Col Dussadee said.
In a similar development, the Agricultural Land Reform Office (Alro) yesterday cleared Channel 3 news anchor Sorayut Sutasanajinda of allegations that he encroached on Sor Por Kor agricultural reform land in Pak Chong district.
Alro secretary-general Sansern Ajjutamanas said a probe found that Sorayut's 8-rai plot in Khao Yai has a Nor Sor 3 Kor document issued in 1991, two years before the RFD set aside the land for Alro to proceed with the Sor Por Kor scheme.
In this case, the Sor Por Kor scheme cannot be carried out on the land, he said.
Mr Sansern said it is not in his authority to probe how Nor Sor 3 Kor papers were issued on the land, adding that it is the duty of the RFD to do so.
He said the RFD gave land in Pak Chong district to Alro in 1987, 1991 and 1993, covering 300,000 rai in total.
After surveying that land, Alro discovered that 200,000 rai already had land document papers, leaving only 100,000 rai for the agency to proceed with the Sor Por Kor scheme, he said.
So far up to 80,000 rai has been used for the scheme, he added.
An investigation source said the land title deeds for 102 rai of land previously owned by a real estate company, which sold the 8-rai block to Sorayut, were not attached with Sor Kor 1, a notification form of land possession, but were issued following a survey by land officials in 1976, the same pattern carried out in the case of the Bonanza Resort.
An investigation will also be conducted to check whether there was a change of landscape and public waterway adjacent to the anchor's property, he said.
