So far police have been reluctant to identify those who took part in the attack, but on Monday (September 22) the Navy called a meeting with people living in the Palai area to try to clear up confusion over rights to the 83-rai site.
The 25 or so villagers at the meeting told the officials that they have bought plots of land 10 years ago.
Samreu Mookkawat, 41, a village leader, who brought documentation with him, told the meeting, “This used to be five pieces of land. Now they are all included in one land document. We believe it might be a fake land title, and that we have the right to remain here.”
A villager who gave her name as Dao said, “I have lived here since 2006 and I paid about B30,000 for the land. It was forest with no title deed. I believe I have the right to stay.”
But Thongchai Suwanpahu of the Land Department had bad news for them. He explained that the original five pieces of land have genuine paper trails going back decades. The oldest, deed No 73, was registered in 1913.
The other four pieces had been legally combined with No 73 to make one deed covering the full 83 rai.
The land was previously owned by a woman called Wasana Koisomboon, but after she had amalgamated the five deeds into one, she sold it on October 6, 2008, to a group of four rich investors, Prajit Hongyok, Samran Saengyanuprab, Prateuang Kreuathong and Supalak Kunarak.
Navy Cmdr Pornprom Sakultem, who is in charge of enforcing NCPO policy in Phuket, explained, “One of my responsibilities is to get trespassers off land where they don’t belong. The land on which you are staying is not yours.
“On top of that you started a dispute with [the owners]. The title deeds are legitimate, so you cannot stay there. If you did not know that before, that’s alright. The court has agreed not to punish you if you move out.
“If you agree to move out, please sign the agreement paper at this meeting.” Some of the villagers were convinced by the Land Department evidence. Nineteen people signed.
One said, “Yes, we are staying on someone else’s land. We have to move out because we have no paper to confirm our rights. We just paid money to someone because of the land was so cheap.
“And now we cannot get our money back. We are poor people.” One woman said she had paid money to someone called Nai Daeng (Mr Red) for the land she had occupied. Cmdr Pornprom asked, “What’s his full name?” She said she did not know. “So where is he?” He had died, she said. “So where is his family?” She said she knew nothing about Daeng’s family.
Gradually the villagers at the meeting caved in. Cmdr Pornpom asked Detnarong Songseang, the lawyer for the owners, “Can you find the way to help these people? Can you go back and talk with the owners of the land about this?” Detnarong agreed to do so.
But resentment remains. A villager said, “Someone has already been to try to demolish our homes.” Mr Detnarong replied, “That was me, because some people had already agreed to move out and had accepted that we could demolish their homes. That was all we were going to do. But people wearing masks and armed with knife and bottle bombs threatened me.” The villagers responded, “How about all the men with weapons who came to threaten us?” Cmdr Pornpom asked, “Who has been using weapons to intimidate you?” Some of the villagers pointed to the lawyer.
The commander then instructed Chalong Police superintendent Pol Col Krittapas Dechintarasorn and Navy officers to track down the leading suspects on both sides.
Five people were arrested three weeks after the June 1 attack and guns were confiscated, though police have refused to reveal their names.