Thread: DSI suspects illegal issue of land rights documents in Sri Panwa case

The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) believes that the acquisition of rights documents of the "Sri Panwa" project is illegal.


The matter has been sent to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), the Department of Lands and the Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) for further investigation, said anti-corruption activist Veera Somkwamkid.


On Saturday, Veera, who is secretary-general of the People's Network Against Corruption, posted on his Facebook page that he had filed a complaint with the DSI to investigate if land title deeds issued for the Sri Panwa project in Phuket province was illegal. (Related article: “Sri Panwa resort ‘not encroaching’ in Phuket: Land Dept”)


Veera posted that he has now received a notice of the results of the investigation. The notice states that the DSI believes the issuance of documents is unlawful, and the accusations can be concluded as follows:


The Sri Panwa land may have been acquired through unlawful issuance of land rights documents. The DSI has therefore sent investigative information to the NACC to consider taking appropriate action, including sending investigative information to the Department of Lands in order to revoke the issuance of unlawful land rights documents.


Some of the land without rights documents, which the Sri Panwa project uses as a swimming pool and a pathway to Panwa Beach, is a forest area under section 4 of the Forest Act BE 2484. The matter has been submitted to the Royal Forest Department to continue investigating in accordance with its mandate.


The use of such land is considered a money laundering offence and the DSI has submitted the investigative information to the AMLO to continue in accordance with the authority.

DSI suspects illegal issue of land rights documents in Sri Panwa case

^ The above mentioned item.

Sri Panwa resort ‘not encroaching’ in Phuket: Land Dept

Phuket’s luxury Sri Panwa resort was cleared of encroaching on state forest by the Land Department on Wednesday.


Appearing before the Land, Natural Resources and Environment Committee, Land Committee director-general Nisit Jansomwong testified that the 79 rai on which Sri Panwa is built had been settled by locals before it was designated as state forest. Locals originally registered their possession of the land on August 1, 1955. Then, after the Land Department had verified the location of the plots, government officials issued the owners with Nor Sor 3 and Nor Sor 3 Kor title deeds, Nisit said.


The Sri Panwa Phuket project bought up the land from local residents in 2003, 2015, and 2016, he added.


“According to the mapping data, this plot of land is not in the forest area at all. The area was owned by people before the [state forest] law was enacted. According to the law, if people owned the land before the law was enacted, they have the right to occupy the area," said Nisit.


The Department of Special Investigation is currently probing a complaint by Veera Somkwamkid, secretary-general of the People's Network Against Corruption, that the Sri Panwa project was unlawfully issued title deeds for the land.


The resort is also under the spotlight after its owner, Vorasit Issara, accused anti-establishment activist Panusaya "Rung" Sithijirawattanakul of offending the monarchy and suggested she be sent to jail.

Sri Panwa resort ‘not encroaching’ in Phuket: Land Dept

So would the Land Department that says there is nothing dodgy about the documents issued be in any way related to the Land Department that might have taken a whopping cake tin to issue or approve dodgy documents?

I think we have a right to know.

Phuket luxury resorts face legal action over illegal land grabs


PHUKET: Luxury Phuket resorts Triasara and Sripanwa are facing legal action over illegally acquired land following the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) and the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) announcing the conclusion of their investigations earlier this week.

Niwatchai Kasemmongkol, Deputy Secretary-General of Office of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), explained that Three Dolphins Co Ltd had used the well-known “Flying SorKor 1” process to submit a SorKor 1 land use document for another plot of land to claim more than 40 rai adjacent to the land the company legitimately owns on Phuket’s west coast.


At a live press conference broadcast online, Mr Niwatchai and fellow NACC officers and expert land investigators specifically named Weerawat Janpen, who served as a Phuket Vice Governor at the time, as involved in approving the land transfer. Weerawat served as a Phket Vice Governor in 2011.

The land illegally acquired is within the boundaries of Sirinath National Park and the adjoining Khao Ruak - Khao Muang national forest reserve, Mr Niwatchai said.


“The NACC has submitted a request to the relevant court to revoke the ownership rights,” he added.


Mr Janpen was just one of 29 officials involved in the illegal issuing of the land documents, Mr Niwatchai explained.


The NACC is pursuing charges against 11 officials involved in the land grab, and is moving to press charges, he added.


Compounding the illegality of the land grabs was that some of the plots acquired and built on has a slope of more than 35%, making any construction illegal, he added.


The SorKor 1 presented by Three Dolphins was used twice to claim different ‒ and larger ‒ parcels of land, the NACC panel explained.


In the first instance, the SorKor 1 land use document, originally issued for a land plot of 20 rai, was first converted to a NorSor 3 marked as covering 38 rai.


The NorSor 3 land document was then converted to two separate NorSor 3 Gor land documents for adjoining plots covering in total 51 rai.


The second instance the same SorKor 1 was used, it was presented to claim 14 rai with full ownership Chanote titles issued to the company, and it was presented to have a NorSor 3 Gor land use document issued covering a further more than 47 rai.


At this stage it is not exactly clear which land, if any, that the Trisara resort sits on is legal.


Phuket luxury resorts face legal action over illegal land grabs