The Treasury Department has told resort owners who have encroached on state land in Suan Phueng district of Ratchaburi province to register as lessees by the end of August or their properties will be demolished.
Director-general Jakrit Papapanthakul said the rent for these encroachers was 100 baht per rai per month, subjected to an increase every five years.
He said there were 120 encroachers of state land in the district and the department had given them the opportunity to become land lessees. So far, 90 have registered to lease the land.
The remaining 30 encroachers have until the end of this month to do this, otherwise the department would ask the provincial governor, local authorities and soldiers to demolish all hotels and resorts illegally built on the state land, he said.
According to Mr Jakkrit, parts of the land in Suan Phueng district adjacent to Kanchanaburi province had once been used by the military for combat exercises. The military later used only the land in Kanchanaburi province, leaving the Suan Phueng land vacant and encroached on for several decades.
The Treasury Department has tried to solve this problem by allowing the encroachers to register as lessees.
If this worked out well in Suan Phueng district, the department would use it as a model for similar programmes in other encroached areas such as those in Nakhon Ratchasima, Kanchanaburi and Koh Tao island of Surat Thani.
All land on Koh Tao actually belongs to the state and the land has been encroached on by a large number of people. The department is working with the provincial authority to launch a similar programme in Koh Tao, he said.
