9 hours ago, MikeN said:

But the locals had absolutely no qualms about selling the land even though they knew of the restrictions.

Let the buyer beware. That's been true since money was invented. 

Man is a devious and largely self-interested creature everywhere on the planet. 

11 minutes ago, Yorkshire Tea said:

And once gone, they will be replaced by plastic sheet greenhouses covering the hillsides.  Just like the rest of Mon Chaem & surrounding hill tribe villages.

yes, I remember them.

21 hours ago, webfact said:

Meanwhile, Surin Natheepraiwan, village headman of Moo 11, where the encroachment has taken place, said the resort operators who trespassed on forest lands are mostly investors from out of town who bought lands from local owners.

So why were they not prevented from building at the beginning?

55 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

So why were they not prevented from building at the beginning?

1. I sell you my land.

2. You hire my relatives and friends to build on it.  

 

Why should I stop 2 when I can let it run, my friends get more money from you and

 

3. Later, My friends and relatives get hired and paid to tear it all down, probably get some building supplies from the trash too.

23 hours ago, webfact said:

“The land on which they built hotels and resorts was later declared to be a national forest,” he said. “Furthermore, the law allows only local residents to use lands for tourism-related purposes. So these resort and hotel owners are in the wrong, whether their land is in national forest areas or not.”

The department said there are about 80 operators who are under investigation.

So firstly the locals could only "use" the land, they were never owners, therefore could not sell anything When the land was illegally sold why did the land office not block the sale?

Picking up yesterday and taking the daughter to school today I see the activists against the government judges housing that killed a section of Doi Suthep put up their green ribbons around the moat again. Now this is sacrileges and totally corrupt encroachment.

We know a couple and occasionally stay overnight. They’re a Mon (Christian) hill tribe who’ve carved small subsistence farms out of the mountain top, and found they can make money offering small one room cabins to Thai tourists for overnight stays. The Mon have been there for a long time and the government has tolerated their farms, but the home stays have become far too popular and numerous. There may be jealousy and not enough brown envelopes as well, plus a few large resorts have now set up and may not like the competition. They are paying taxes as well

Bit of a shame really. You should try it if you’re in the area.

 

 

On 7/13/2020 at 8:51 AM, ThailandRyan said:

What about all the houses built for the Judges as well

I drive by there all the time and from what I can see from the canal the jungle is now encroaching.

 

Like so many other buildings they’re slowly becoming derelict. 

“The land on which they built hotels and resorts was later declared to be a national forest,” he said. “Furthermore, the law allows only local residents to use lands for tourism-related purposes. So these resort and hotel owners are in the wrong, whether their land is in national forest areas or not.”

The department said there are about 80 operators who are under investigation.”

 

Hopefully they close these new resort operators and leave the small B&B style cabins on the farms in peace, but some how it never ends up that way. 

On 7/13/2020 at 8:29 AM, webfact said:

Meanwhile, Surin Natheepraiwan, village headman of Moo 11, where the encroachment has taken place, said the resort operators who trespassed on forest lands are mostly investors from out of town who bought lands from local owners.

 

“The land on which they built hotels and resorts was later declared to be a national forest,” he said.

Seems to be a bit of confusion .

Were these privately owned land or National forest land ?

Seems like the Chinese legally bought the land and the Thai Gov moved the goalposts

Many names for land “ownership” here and for land types.  National Forest land is often granted to individuals for special use under special circumstances, usually long term residence.  Then there are severe restrictions on transfer and use.  Confusion common because details unclear.

9 hours ago, RobFord said:

I drive by there all the time and from what I can see from the canal the jungle is now encroaching.

 

Like so many other buildings they’re slowly becoming derelict. 

didn't the fire take out those houses this spring? ???? but if the jungle gets its sweet revenge that's kinda interesting outcome to the so called 'move to chiang rai' ...

On 7/13/2020 at 9:46 AM, ezzra said:

It begs the question, how come 149 illegally built hotels were allowed to be erected undetected, i would sack the all the building inspectors and whom ever is incharge on making sure these thing doesn't happen...

The problem is the Asian Allowance , they all go in hard as tack then go to sleep, same happens with animal cruelty, they don't follow up or even appoint people to regularly inspect.