100-strong force raids 2 luxury beach homes
Khao Takiab houses ‘encroach on forest’
Almost 100 law enforcement officials raided two houses alleged to have been built illegally by a retired army officer on Khao Takiab in Prachuap Khiri Khan’s popular holiday district of Hua Hin yesterday.
Army, police and forestry and administrative officials searched the luxury houses mainly catering to tourists on Khao Takiab located on the far tip of the Hua Hin beach following a complaint they might be encroaching on forest land.
The officials said the accommodation charges guests about 5,000 baht for a night’s stay and a retired lieutenant colonel is believed to own the property.
According to officials, the houses encroach on forest land which is taken care of by the Royal Forest Department.
One house has three floors and the other is two storeys high, and the property where the two houses are located overlooks the sea.
Suwat Wiwatananond, 65, claims to be the owner of the property, according to officials.
Damri Kerdthong, a senior civil engineer at Hua Hin municipality, said his agency has ordered Mr Suwat to dismantle the houses as no permits had been sought to build them.
Mr Suwat appealed the order and the provincial authorities are in process of considering his appeal, he said.
Hua Hin district chief Rutpratheep Thammarapheephat said officials would examine the area of encroached land before filing formal legal action against the owner based on the 1941 Forest Act.
Officials, he said, will also survey an adjacent area found to be the location of a luxury resort which might be an “extension” of the encroached land.
The resort is suspected to have erected electricity poles and planted coconut trees intruding on a public beach.
Mr Rutpratheep said the resort land ownership documents will be checked to determine whether the land was lawfully acquired.
He added that the authorities were also looking to see if the area lies within a protected mangrove forest.
Meanwhile, provincial authorities searched the River Kwai Jungle Rafts Resort in tambon Tha Sao of Kanchanaburi’s Sai Yok district again yesterday after they inspected the floating rafts on the Kwai Noi River at the resort on April 27 and found that they encroached on Sai Yok National Park.
The resort was also situated on Sor Por Kor 4-01 agricultural land reserved by the government for landless farmers, officials said.
The Kanchanaburi Sor Por Kor office has been asked to check if the land owners have the right to own the land.
About half of the land is allegedly owned by Chotchaung Surangkul and Suvimol Ngansriwirot and the rest by Wanida Jongwilaikasem and Noree Jongwilaikasem.
Forest protection officials found that the first two are board members of River Kwai Floatel and Serenata Hotels & Resort Group.
If the land owners are not eligible to acquire and possess the Sor Por Kor land, their land rights would be withdrawn, authorities said.