Luxury Golf resort targeted in new land probe

17 เมษายน 2558

Buy land in the Khao Yai area and you have a good chance of losing it no matter what your political connections. The latest property to come under suspicion of illegal acquisition is the Kirimaya Golf Resort and Spa with PDRC connections

Buy land in the Khao Yai area and you have a good chance of losing it no matter what your political connections. The latest property to come under suspicion of illegal acquisition is the Kirimaya Golf Resort and Spa with PDRC connections

Please join us on our Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/bangkokpostlearning

Photo from Agoda.com

Luxury Golf resort targeted in new land probe

Customer reviews of the Kirimaya Golf Resort and Spa located near Khao Yai National Park in Pak Chong district of Nakhon Ratchasima are generally very favourable. Take this example from tripadvisor.com

“Wonderful place for a break”

January 3, 2015

Greeted with a big smile at check in and it was fast. Nice clean room facing the Greenery. Balcony bed to laze away the day. Big comfortable bed. Good room service. Breakfast spread was good. Thai restaurant dishes were delicious though slightly pricey. The stay here is peaceful, relaxing and I wish to have stayed longer. I certainly will be back for a longer stay.

Well Mr/Ms reviewer. You may have to hurry. Kirimaya is the latest Khao Yai property to come under investigation by authorities. Here are the details.

Photo from Kirimaya.com

Kirimaya resort latest encroachment target

KING-OUA LAOHONG

Authorities investigating land encroachment in Nakhon Ratchasima are expanding their probe to cover Kirimaya Golf Resort and Spa, the latest business implicated in the scandal.

An allegation that the resort, located near Khao Yai National Park in Pak Chong district, acquired land illegally has drawn a swift response from deputy permanent secretary for justice Dussadee Arayawuth.

Mr Dussadee ordered the Centre for National Anti-Corruption to conduct the investigation, which will include looking into whether officials were complicit in the wrongdoing.

"Some plots of land owned by Kirimaya may have a problem, especially those involving requests for land officials to issue land title deeds this year," said a source on the Justice Ministry's investigation team, referring to an initial finding.

Investigators who traced back Kirimaya's land acquisition suspect that land use permission documents, which are required as evidence to ask for deeds, were wrongfully issued, the source said.

The areas in question were originally part of self-help settlement land, overseen by the Cooperative Promotion Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives which distributed land to villagers.

The problem occurred when land was given to villagers in an area owned by the Agricultural Land Reform Office (Alro), which allocates land to landless farmers.

Issuing documents in this way has caused investigators to look at possible violations of the Encroachment Act, the source said.

Villagers claimed there had been many attempts to ask for land title deeds in this area, but "some officials opposed it for fear of committing crimes", the source said.

"Later these officials were transferred out of the area," the source said.

A Kirimaya staff member refused to comment Thursday on whether authorities have begun investigating the resort in the last few days.

Allegations of an illegal land grab at Kirimaya Golf Resort and Spa emerged recently after Rak Prathet Thai Party leader Chuvit Kamolvisit alleged there were irregularities on his Facebook page called Chuvit I'm No.5 on April 11.

Mr Chuvit urged authorities to take action against the resort the same way it did with Bonanza Golf and Country Club Co, which is also facing land encroachment allegations in Pak Chong district.

According to Mr Chuvit's Facebook page, Kirimaya Golf Resort and Spa, which was accused of being built on parts of Khao Yai National Park or a forest reserve, reportedly belongs to "one of the co-leaders of the PDRC [People's Democratic Reform Committee]," which staged mass protests against the Yingluck Shinawatra administration last year.