The team started with 200 rai of mangrove forest at Klong Takiem in Moo 1, Pa Khlok, which was allegedly encroached on by a businessman from outside Phuket who had hired Burmese workers to build a hut on the land and cut down and burn large mangrove trees.
“We can see a large cleared area with big dead trees. Nearby, some of the forest on land was also burned,” Adm Tiansiri noted.
He added that there are no registered papers for the land, which is still plainly natural mangrove forest. Despite that, the villagers reported that a sign had been erected on the land saying, “No entry. Private Land.”
Officers will be posted to keep an eye on the land and arrest anyone who enters it, as part of an investigation into the “owner”. That person’s identity is already known, Adm Tiansiri said.
“The Thalang Land Office, the Royal Forestry Office and Mangrove Natural Resources Development Office will send officials to measure and clarify the border of the land again before further investigation.”
The second site included two shrimp farms of 10 and 15 rai respenctively. The two businesses are alleged to encroach on mangrove forests along Klong Bangnoo and Klong Topia.
One of the land “owners”, Charoen Chuanaka, went to meet the investigating team and showed them a Local Maintenance Tax paper.
“We have been on this land for generations. My great-grandparents got this paper to show that we are allowed to use this land. I have tried many times to get a land paper on this basis but the Land Office has always refused to issue one,” Mr Charoen complained.
The officers, however, insisted that the land is in a protected area and the tax paper is no longer valid. They said Mr Charoen’s prawn farm will be removed and the land restored to its original natural state.
The third piece, covering 16 rai, has also been made into a prawn farm. There is a Sor Kor 1 paper, but only for one rai. The rest of the land encroaches on Klong Pakwan mangroves.
The fourth plot visited covers 18 rai and is occupied by yet another prawn farm. This one, too, has a Sor Kor 1 paper, but covering only six rai. The remainder encroaches on the mangrove forest along Klong Pakchee.
“We checked these four plots today, not because we want to reduce anyone’s rights to land but because we have to protect natural land for local people,” Adm Tiansiri said.
“The mangrove forests we visited, especially at Klong Ta Kiem, are still pure and are of great benefit to the environment. I urge the people who claim that they own these pieces of land to meet with our officers to show their land papers and prove their rights.”