Senior Officials Arrested in Saraburi for Forest Land Corruption

Picture courtesy of Komchadluek.

Police have arrested three suspects, including a senior land reform official and a local subdistrict chief, over allegations they illegally issued land rights documents to benefit investors encroaching on forest reserves in Saraburi Province.

On 8 August, Pol Maj Gen Jaroonkiat Parnkaew, Deputy Commissioner of the Central Investigation Bureau, together with Pol Maj Gen Prasong Chalampan, Commander of the Anti-Corruption Division, and Thanadol Suwannarit, legal adviser to the Minister of Agriculture, led a team from the Anti-Corruption Police to raid the Saraburi Provincial Agricultural Land Reform Office.

There they arrested Wichayut Dechchotiwirun, 42, a senior survey engineer at the office and Sippakorn Kojinok, 57, the village headman of Nong Yang Suea Subdistrict. Both were wanted on warrants issued by the Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Region 1 on charges of malfeasance in office, official misconduct and issuing false official documents.

The arrests follow an investigation into the luxury Rai Phunapdao resort in Muak Lek District, which was found to have been built on encroached forest land. Investigators discovered that certain state officials had abused their positions to issue Sor Por Kor 4-01 agricultural land reform documents, enabling investors to claim ownership of protected land.

A total of six officials are believed to have been involved, most from the Saraburi Agricultural Land Reform Office, along with local administrative officers including village headmen. The group allegedly worked together to sign false certifications, approve land as “agricultural” despite it being forest and falsely confirm the eligibility of applicants without proper inspection.

Police say roles were clearly divided, from falsifying field inspection reports to manipulating land surveys.

Following the gathering of sufficient evidence, the Anti-Corruption Division obtained arrest warrants for all six suspects. This raid led to the capture of three: Wichayut, Sippakorn, and Aroon Srinatam, 56. The remaining three suspects are still at large.

Pol Maj Gen Jaroonkiat said a formal press conference would be held later to outline the full details of the case.

  Adapted by Asean Now from Khomchadluek 2025-08-09