Encroachers agree to return
land to the navy - June 1, 2005
More than 120 people, encroaching on 1,100 rai of navy-owned
land on Koh Chang, have agreed to return the plots to the navy.
The navy, on the other hand, has been asked by a government committee to
return 900 rai of land on the island to villagers as the land had been
occupied by them before it was declared navy land.
Gen Surin Pikulthong, chairman of the subcommittee tackling public land
encroachment, said inspections on Chang island in Trat had found that 209
people were occupying 304 navy-owned land plots covering 3,764 rai, of which
124 people were illegally occupying 1,158 rai of navy land. However, recent
negotiations had ended with the land encroachers promising to return the
land to the state, while the navy also giving assurances that it would put
about 900 rai of land back into the hands of village families who had
occupied the land before it was declared navy land, he added.
Satellite photos have revealed that 42 plots in the Koh Chang National Park
and 13 forest land plots outside the park were being encroached, but the
panel could not verify their sizes because land measurements were forbidden
by the park.
The committee believed the problems were mainly caused by park officials
since aerial photos had also showed that the national park had expanded in
size by 18,000 rai due to the adjustment of its boundaries.
The panel chairman admitted that national park officials may have
overreacted to the encroachment problem by removing all the settlements on
Ngam Island, occupied by villagers well before the establishment of the
national park.
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