Treasury plans to put 100 seized plots up for grabs

The Treasury Department plans to put 100 seized land plots, some located in Bangkok’s prime areas, on sale in May at the earliest, according to its chief.

The open-outcry auction method will be used, enabling the Treasury Department to sell these plots at the market price, with the proceeds from the auction going to government coffers, said director-general Yuttana Yimgarund.

These include 34 square wah on Silom Road and several plots on the banks of the Chao Phraya River in Nonthaburi.

The plots to go under the hammer have already won approval from the Finance Ministry in compliance with the Ratchaphatsadu Land Act of 2019, which stipulates that the Treasury Department is able to sell land seized from money-laundering and drug-trafficking cases where the Finance Ministry gives the nod to alleviate the burden on the department.

Since the law stipulates that any land in which ownership in unclear is classified as state land, the Treasury Department delegated its officials to do a survey and found that 1 million rai fell into the category, Mr Yuttana said.

The department plans to develop these plots for commercial purposes by renting them to the private sector and state agencies.

Moreover, the department will join with the Foreign Affairs Ministry to survey and appraise prices of overseas land held by state agencies.

The Treasury Department has 12.5 million rai of state land worth 5 trillion baht under management. The asset size and value will be increased when the 1 million rai and state agencies’ overseas land are taken into account.

Mr Yuttana said the Airports Department will follow in the footsteps of the army in handing out 25 airports nationwide to the Treasury Department.

The army recently delivered 1 million rai of land to the Treasury Department.

Upon the handover, the Airports Department is still allowed to use the 25 airports free of charge, but commercial areas in these airports will be managed by the Treasury Department.

Other state agencies intend to let the Treasury Department manage commercial areas in their properties, while the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration has also handed over several commercial areas to the department.

For revenue derived from land that the army will manage by itself to develop into commercial welfare use, Mr Yuttana said the army will allocate 70% to the state coffers and 30% to the army’s welfare scheme.