25 years on, SorPorKor land still problematic in Phuket
Nattha Thepbamrung


SorPorKor land is 'degraded forest' earmarked for farming only by poor people.

PHUKET: -- An ad hoc committee met on Tuesday (November 18) to resolve problems about overlapping land between Royal Forestry Department (RFD) or National Park and land carrying SorPorKor (SPK) papers issued 25 years ago.

SPK land is state land, usually degraded, that was allocated for agricultural use only by poor people under a Democrat Party initiative during the Chuan Leekpai administration.

There is approximately 40 million rai of SPK land across Thailand, 32,372 rai of it in Phuket.

“We have to come to an agreement on the borderlines among the RFD, the National Park Office and the Agricultural Land Reform Office [responsible for SPK land],” Vice Governor Jamroen Thippayapongtada told the Phuket News. “A team has been set up involving those three offices and the Phuket Provincial Environment Office.

“The borderlines have been unclear for a long time. Some SPK land encroached forest land but the issue about unclear borderlines makes the issue more complicated.”

He said, the committee would start work immediately and was expected to complete the agreed map and borderlines by February next year.

“There are five main areas that are announced to be reform land for agricultural, Khao Sam Liam forest, Khao Prateaw forest, Khao Narkkerd forest, the Kamala area and Koh Lon forest,” said Kasem Sukwaree, Director of Phuket Provincial Environment Office.

“Some of the SPK land in Khao Prataew forest and Koh Lon forest will be restored to RFD or Parks Dept land, while the others will be checked for the correct borderline and map before checks are made on the condition [of the forest] and whether any of it has been illegal encroached on.”

“First of all we have to agreed on the borderlines. The information we have from each department for Khao Prataew and Koh Lon is still different.”

Of the 32,372 rai of land earmarked for SPK use, only 8,089 rai has actually been issued with SPK papers – 521 plots allocated to 439 people.

“SPK land can be only ‘Zone E’ forest [decayed forest]. We will check the latest aerial photos of the land and the maps before conducting field surveys.”

Although users of SPK land receive an impressive government document, they do not own the land. They may not use it for anything but agriculture, may not sell it and may not lease it to anyone else. They may, however, assign the farming rights to the heirs on death.

The rules have been widely flouted, with Land Officials colluding in getting SPK land upgraded to full ownership, and with hotels and restaurants being built on SPK land.

In 1994 the scheme rebounded on the Chuan government, with revelations that in Phuket several rich families, including one closely tied to the Democrat Party, had received SPK papers.

The scandal ended in the collapse of the Chuan government in 1995.

Source: http://www.thephuketnews.com/25-years-on-sorporkor-land-still-problematic-in-phuket-49745.php


-- Phuket News 2014-11-21

Remove the slander and libel laws. Then we would see some progress. In getting rid of corruption.