Crime DSI Probes Alleged Illegal Runway Built Over Public Land at Private Airport

[Georgealbert]

 

Pictures courtesy of Matichon.

 

The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) has launched an investigation into a private airstrip allegedly constructed over public land in Khanong Phra Subdistrict, Pak Chong District, Nakhon Ratchasima. The 1-kilometre runway is suspected of being built without official permission and in violation of public land use regulations.

 

Pol. Lt. Col. Yuttana Praedam, Director-General of the DSI, authorised a team led by Pol. Lt. Col. Natthaphon Ditsayatham, Director of the Natural Resources and Environment Division and Pol. Lt. Col. Nimit Promma, Deputy Director of the same division, to meet with local officials in Khanong Phra to verify the legality of the airstrip.

 

The inquiry was triggered by a formal complaint filed by Mr. Phattharaphong Supakson, following media reports alleging that a public road was being used as a runway for private aircraft. The road in question had long been used by local residents and is reportedly under the jurisdiction of the Khanong Phra Subdistrict Administrative Organisation (SAO).

 

During a site inspection, officials found that the airstrip runs through public land. The runway itself is approximately 19 metres wide and 1,000 metres long, overlapping with a public thoroughfare roughly 3.5 metres wide and 450 metres long. The road is said to end at a private golf course.

 

The DSI revealed that the land in question is officially managed by the Lam Ta Khong Self-Development Community (a government resettlement scheme), not by the local subdistrict authority. However, any construction, including a runway, falls under the jurisdiction of the Building Control Act B.E. 2522 (1979), which involves local administration during the permitting process.

 

Notably, no application for permission to build the runway has been found in records dating back to 2007, according to the SAO’s engineering department. This suggests the runway may have been built illegally, raising concerns over safety and improper use of communal land.

 

Further complicating matters, engineers from the SAO reported that although the public road appears to lead into the golf course, the path within has been covered in grass and landscaped features, effectively preventing access and removing its function as a public road.

 

Pol. Lt. Col. Natthaphon and the inspection team are continuing to collect evidence and may expand the investigation to include the private golf course. The DSI has reiterated its commitment to protecting public land and environmental resources.

 

Members of the public are encouraged to report illegal land use or environmental violations to the DSI’s Natural Resources and Environment Division via the website www.dsi.go.th or by calling the free nationwide DSI hotline.

 

 

  Adapted by Asean Now from Matichon 2025-07-18