Mr Damrong retired at the end of September, but made the point before leaving of ordering his subordinates to continue the probe, which has already named a variety of high-profile property developments and five-star resorts, many in Phuket, as being suspected of being built on land encroaching illegally annexed from Sirinart Marine National Park.
No one was ever appointed to replace Mr Damrong, and at the start of November the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment suspended the investigation.
In a phone interview with The Phuket News today (November 30) before a speech at Kasetsart University in Bangkok, he spoke of his initial anger, and now disappointment at the way the land probe investigation had been handled.
He would instead register his own party, the Thai Forest Land Reclamation Party, or FRP, on December 12.
“People will realise that the government is neglecting the land problem. The more people have a chance to encroach on the land, the more people take that chance.
“This issue is in the public interest of all the Thai people. We cannot let someone, or a group of people, decide this on behalf of all of us,” he said.
“There is no new director of the DNP. As a Thai person, I am watching the Government and what they are doing is unusual. Every department already has its own director, except for the DNP,” Mr Damrong said.
Two people, Rerngchai Prayoonvech and Manopat Huamuangkaew, already had the backing of Mr Damrong for the position of director of the DNP. Mr Damrong had already given their names to the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Preecha Rengsomboonsap, but nothing had happened yet.
The party will be registered with the idea to carry on protecting Thailand’s forest and environment – something Mr Damrong is very passionate about. It will be a “small party with people who have the same ideals,” he said.
He also planned to send a petition to complain about the delayed appointment of the director of the DNP, which he would send in a couple of weeks.
“I feel discouraged. I worked on land encroachment for a year and now it all seems wasted,” Mr Damrong said.
“Everyone wants the land investigation to continue, but it cannot. I want everyone to sign the petition, and I will be the first person to sign it.
“If there is still no director, it will mean the officers won’t be able to enforce anything because they will have no one to support them.”