CityNews – The Director of the Royal Forest Department and his team of forestry officials have recently revealed that they have found over 80 plots of land that are either illegal, have no proof of ownership, legal but exceeding the legally owned plot of land and/or encroaching on protected forests in Chiang Mai.
On June 12, there was meeting at Ban Pong Auditorium in Hang Dong District hosted by Chonlatis Surasawadee, Director of The Royal Forest Department and other departments involved, to present their findings regarding the plots of land which have been found to be breaking a number of laws or rules.
These plots have been dubbed the “High Society Hills” in Chiang Mai as all of the 80 plots are owned by rich investors looking to build homes or resorts on the mountain sides in the Suthep-Pui National Park foothills and several other locations such as the Mae Tha Chang Forest Reserve and Maek Khanin in Hang Dong.
This follows on from the recently reported on 900 million baht development on the Suthep-Pui National Park foothills on June 9.
Five of the 30 resorts in the High Society Hills are thought to have acquired land title deeds illegally.
In the North of Thailand, a total of 150 plots have been identified, with 80 plots in the province of Chiang Mai.
Across Thailand, over 900 plots of land have been identified as violating laws in their location or construction.
The plots of land include empty plots being prepared for construction, fully built houses, condominiums and resorts.
According to the Royal Forest Department, each one of the identified plots across the country are either illegal, unable to provide proof or certification regarding correct legal land ownership, show evidence of obtaining land title deeds illegally, are exceeding the legal boundaries of the plot of land, or have found to be encroaching on protected land and forests.
However, the meeting was only held to bring attention to the fact that these plots had legal irregularities, and no action has yet to be taken against the land or building owners.
Officials told the press that they must first examine each plot od land on a case by case basis and if found to be violating any laws or lacking proof of land ownership, they would then file a complaint with the local police who would then deal with the matter accordingly.
A police spokesperson at the meeting said that if any complaint is made, the police would endeavour to investigate and produce a conclusion to the complaint within 90 days.
