The Criminal Court yesterday sentenced a former Democrat MP for Kanchanaburi to one year in prison on charges of public land encroachment.
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Pracha "Kamnan Siah" Phopipit, 71, was found guilty of encroaching on 1,199 rai of public land. The land in Kanchanaburi's Dan Makhamtei district and Ratchaburi's Suan Phueng district was classified as public space that could only be leased to individuals by the Treasury Department.
The department filed a complaint over the use of the land. The lawsuit, which was lodged with the court in 2012, said Pracha illegally occupied two plots of land from 1990 until 2004, leasing them to others without permission.
The land in Dan Makhamtei district covered 299 rai and was adjacent to a 900-rai plot in Suan Phung district. Part of the area was rented out for commercial crop plantations.
According to prosecutors, the plots were classified as public land under a royal decree issued in 1938. They produced aerial pictures taken in 1952 as evidence, which showed the areas were once fertile forest.
The defendant claimed to have purchased the plots for 2 million baht in 1990, but he had no documents to prove ownership.
Pracha insisted that he was unaware the plots were classified as public land. He also argued that he never encroached on the plots since no structures were built on the land.
The court dismissed Pracha's attempts to clear his name, saying he was an ex-MP and state official and should have checked the land's status.
The court also said the encroachment had taken place even though no structures were built.
The ex-politician turned up to hear the ruling with his wife, Khemporn, and lawyer. He was temporarily released on 100,000-baht bail.
Pracha was earlier sentenced to five years in prison for his role in rigging bids for several development projects in Kanchanaburi between 1999 and 2011.
The ruling was overturned by the Appeal Court. This case is now being reviewed by the Supreme Court.