For years villagers of the Sa Ton Poe community – located in the area of Soi Palai in the southern part of the island – have been embattled in a dispute with wealthy investors who in 2008 acquired the disputed 83-rai plot of land where their community is located.
Despite intervention from the provincial and military levels, the dispute has continued to escalate with aggression reported by both sides.
Notably, in June last year, an arson attack on a work site was suspected to have been committed by disgruntled villagers.
And despite the navy intervening last September on behalf of the investors, who had produced legitimate land papers, the dispute continues, as many villagers refuse to leave.
Most recently, on Tuesday (June 16) 30 villagers visited the provincial ombudsman, to follow up on a previous request for protection, as the villagers claim they have been harassed by henchmen representing the investors, and that they still had strong suspicions about the legitamacy of the land papers.
In response, one of the land owner investors, Mr Samran Saengyanuprab, accompanied by an assosiate Mr Sulak Kunarak, and their lawyer Mr Suthon Thaweesuwan, visited the provincial omsbudman yesterday (June 19) afternoon, to submit their own formal complaint.
The men and their lawyer were received by Phuket Vice Governor Suthee Thongyaem and Phuket Damrongtham Centre Chief Praphan Kunprasaeng, who accepted the men’s formal request for swift justice, not only to remove the encroaching villagers, but to prosecute them for smearing the land owners' reputations.
Along with a letter, the men also submitted supporting documents, including copies of the land title (chanote) in question and various court records.
“My clients have never hired any henchmen to intimidate the villagers,” insisted the lawyer Mr Suthon.
“Furthermore, the land’s chanote is clearly legit, and has already been proven. The claims that it [the title] was for another unrelated piece of land, or that it was based on a tin mining concession, are just false. This has already been determined by the court,” he said.
The lawyer revealed that a court has ruled in favor of the investors in 10 cases so far, out of 50 cases previously filed, including that against community chief, Mr Ron Maesungkhao, who, along with several convicted associates, are currently pending appeals.
“We’ve dropped charges in about 40 cases with villagers who agreed to leave, but we’ve also filed about 40-50 new cases,” the lawyer noted.
“My clients are done negotiating, and from now on, we’re only going to go by the rule of law,” he added.