After a complaint from local people, the Chief of the Damrongdharm Centre, Prapan Kanprasaeng, led a delegation of officials from the Land Office, the Patong Municipality, Kathu District and the Public Works Department to inspect the site. Vice-Governor Somkiet Sangkhaosuttirak was also present.
Patong Municipality ordered a halt to the excavation on July 22.
A municipal official explained, “In 30 days, they can ask for permission to excavate [the part of the] land that is not over 80 meters above sea level.”
However, he added, “They will soon face charges. Excavating without a permit is illegal.
“Moreover, after checking with the Public Works Department, we found that [some of the] land is 125 meters above sea level, which is over the legal limit. Patong Municipality have stopped them from doing any more work.”
Mr Prapan asked the Land Office to check the land against the NorSor3 Kor paper to see whether or not the excavations had gone beyond the borders defined in the land paper.
He also asked officials to check whether any natural watercourses have been altered during the digging. If this is found to be the case, Kathu District will report the matter to the police.
Local authorities are expected to report their findings every 15 days to Governor Maitri Inthusut.
As usual, the names of the people carrying out the illegal excvtion were not mentioned.