Half of resorts on Koh Tao face eviction

[stephenterry]

[The manic]

So in London when the Duke of Wastemoreland sells whole swathes do of London to the Qataris do you call him and his 'firm' mafia? No you do not because he established his ownership in the past and is a white Englishman. Do Londoners benefit from this foreign ownership of Mayfair, Park Lane, Canary Wharf etc? No they don't. Do you complain about the despoiling of the New Forest and other London forests that are now urban areas. No you do not. So why is this an issue to you when Thais climb the wealth ladder? Because they have not been to university? Because they were not born with a silver spoon in their mouth? The business men and women of Kao Tao put Thailand on the map of world tourism. Good luck to them I say.

Edited April 30, 2015 by The manic

[RT555]

We will be reading the same thing in 10 years.

[kohtaoresortowner]

20 years ago I bought a plot of land with the help of the local land office and the land owner. 3 rai to be exact. First I built a family home that I lived in and where my son was born. Slowly the family home was extended to a small but prosperous resort for which we pay tax yearly as we are asked to do and have gotten permission to build from the local land office. We've all known that the land titles in Koh Tao are not similar to the rest of Thailand. But why not actually ? All small islands started as Crown Property and were then upgraded to better titles. Why not Koh Tao.

It is extremely saddening to read all the gloating here on TV about how all of us that have worked hard to invest and built something for our sons and daughters just deserve to lose everything. Most have us have played by the rules that were in place. For us personally we are not on the beach and not encroaching on beach land on watershed land. Few will argue that our small resort is not beautiful and an asset to the island.

We are more than happy to pay more tax or to upgrade or pay to upgrade or even to purchase the land "again" at a fair price. That is not the issue. But the schadenfreude displayed here is just sad to read. I can mention a lot of resorts on the beach that I would for sure prefer to be forced off the beach, no question, but it is has never been in my power to raise the issue with any one.

For all of you that now gloat and "hope" we will all be evicted I urge you to think about fairly normal people that we lucky enough to build both honest and sustainable businesses. That work honestly and hard to make Koh Tao a better place. That have nothing to do with drugs, murders or the taxi mafia. Put yourself in our shoes and consider whether we really just deserve to lose everything we have worked 20 years to achieve.

Once you have done that, then please feel free to spew your venomous comments and "som na nas", but try to think out our children that loose their future possibilities and heritage first.

Edited April 30, 2015 by kohtaoresortowner

[kohtaoresortowner]

Most of the large hotels/resorts are owned by Thais. Who are these people getting super rich by leasing land to foreigners ? Please name examples since you know so much ?

Montra Resort (Local Chumphon business man)

Coral Grand Reslrt (Local Chumphon business man)

Regal Resort (local koh tao thai)

Sensi Paradise (local koh tao thai)

haad tien beach resort (bangkok family but thai)

Jamahkiri (yes, that one is foreigner)

Thipwimarn (local koh tao person)

Dusit Buncha (Chumphon hotel owner)

Charm Churee Villa + Bamboo Huts (local bangkok family)

Bans Diving resort (local koh tao family)

Most of Sairee such as a seashell, lotus, bowthong, koh tao island resort (local koh tao thais)

Ac Resort, Flower, Resort, ac 2 resort and so on (local koh tao family)

Buddha View Diving Resort (local thai owner from koh tao).

View Point Resort (local koh tao thai)

Freedom Beach Resort (local koh tao thai)

JP Resort (local koh tao thai)

Tropicana Reosrt (local koh tao thai)

Ko Tao Resort + Paradise Zone (local koh tao thai)

Please know your facts.

The only "Foreign" I can think of is Cape Shark Villas which is more of a villa sales / project develper believed to be swedish

[h90]

20 years ago I bought a plot of land with the help of the local land office and the land owner. 3 rai to be exact. First I built a family home that I lived in and where my son was born. Slowly the family home was extended to a small but prosperous resort for which we pay tax yearly as we are asked to do and have gotten permission to build from the local land office. We've all known that the land titles in Koh Tao are not similar to the rest of Thailand. But why not actually ? All small islands started as Crown Property and were then upgraded to better titles. Why not Koh Tao.

It is extremely saddening to read all the gloating here on TV about how all of us that have worked hard to invest and built something for our sons and daughters just deserve to lose everything. Most have us have played by the rules that were in place. For us personally we are not on the beach and not encroaching on beach land on watershed land. Few will argue that our small resort is not beautiful and an asset to the island.

We are more than happy to pay more tax or to upgrade or pay to upgrade or even to purchase the land "again" at a fair price. That is not the issue. But the schadenfreude displayed here is just sad to read. I can mention a lot of resorts on the beach that I would for sure prefer to be forced off the beach, no question, but it is has never been in my power to raise the issue with any one.

For all of you that now gloat and "hope" we will all be evicted I urge you to think about fairly normal people that we lucky enough to build both honest and sustainable businesses. That work honestly and hard to make Koh Tao a better place. That have nothing to do with drugs, murders or the taxi mafia. Put yourself in our shoes and consider whether we really just deserve to lose everything we have worked 20 years to achieve.

Once you have done that, then please feel free to spew your venomous comments and "som na nas", but try to think out our children that loose their future possibilities and heritage first.

We wanted to buy land on other islands and half of the places didn't had the correct land titles, without them we could not buy it. But had some fun from the locals who sold the same plot of land twice or three times with doggy documents. In one case to a high ranking police and a high ranking military. With all the island waiting for the war.

On top of it is inside a protected area.

In my country you can't buy farmer land if you aren't a farmer. On farmer land you can't build a building. And there is abuse and as long as no one figures it out you can have the house there, once the authorities know you must remove it. Here the rules are different and also difficult, but should be enforced.

Would you buy a second hand car without the proper documents? Most probably not, but on land you think it is OK?

[kohtaoresortowner]

20 years ago I bought a plot of land with the help of the local land office and the land owner. 3 rai to be exact. First I built a family home that I lived in and where my son was born. Slowly the family home was extended to a small but prosperous resort for which we pay tax yearly as we are asked to do and have gotten permission to build from the local land office. We've all known that the land titles in Koh Tao are not similar to the rest of Thailand. But why not actually ? All small islands started as Crown Property and were then upgraded to better titles. Why not Koh Tao.

It is extremely saddening to read all the gloating here on TV about how all of us that have worked hard to invest and built something for our sons and daughters just deserve to lose everything. Most have us have played by the rules that were in place. For us personally we are not on the beach and not encroaching on beach land on watershed land. Few will argue that our small resort is not beautiful and an asset to the island.

We are more than happy to pay more tax or to upgrade or pay to upgrade or even to purchase the land "again" at a fair price. That is not the issue. But the schadenfreude displayed here is just sad to read. I can mention a lot of resorts on the beach that I would for sure prefer to be forced off the beach, no question, but it is has never been in my power to raise the issue with any one.

For all of you that now gloat and "hope" we will all be evicted I urge you to think about fairly normal people that we lucky enough to build both honest and sustainable businesses. That work honestly and hard to make Koh Tao a better place. That have nothing to do with drugs, murders or the taxi mafia. Put yourself in our shoes and consider whether we really just deserve to lose everything we have worked 20 years to achieve.

Once you have done that, then please feel free to spew your venomous comments and "som na nas", but try to think out our children that loose their future possibilities and heritage first.

We wanted to buy land on other islands and half of the places didn't had the correct land titles, without them we could not buy it. But had some fun from the locals who sold the same plot of land twice or three times with doggy documents. In one case to a high ranking police and a high ranking military. With all the island waiting for the war.

On top of it is inside a protected area.

In my country you can't buy farmer land if you aren't a farmer. On farmer land you can't build a building. And there is abuse and as long as no one figures it out you can have the house there, once the authorities know you must remove it. Here the rules are different and also difficult, but should be enforced.

Would you buy a second hand car without the proper documents? Most probably not, but on land you think it is OK?

I am not disputing the fact that land titles on Koh Tao were always a problem. But why do they have a land office there then. Why do they have a government paid employee taking care of land titles and accepting tax from said land. The problem is, in my humble opinion, that the Thai government by virtue of accepting things as they were for many many years have by default agreed to the way things were and the way things are now. Therefore they should not just be able to issue a statement saying that half of xxx resorts will be evicted. Most of the resorts look nice etc. How about evicting the ten or so 7/11s, the Top Charoens, The Motorbike Scamming Shops.

Clearly something needs to be done. The fair way would be to offer the current land holders the right to purchase or rent the land at a fair rate. All other islands such as Koh Phangan and Koh Samui also had the same original titles as Koh Tao. Why doesn't Koh Tao have the right to be upgraded ?

[h90]

20 years ago I bought a plot of land with the help of the local land office and the land owner. 3 rai to be exact. First I built a family home that I lived in and where my son was born. Slowly the family home was extended to a small but prosperous resort for which we pay tax yearly as we are asked to do and have gotten permission to build from the local land office. We've all known that the land titles in Koh Tao are not similar to the rest of Thailand. But why not actually ? All small islands started as Crown Property and were then upgraded to better titles. Why not Koh Tao.

It is extremely saddening to read all the gloating here on TV about how all of us that have worked hard to invest and built something for our sons and daughters just deserve to lose everything. Most have us have played by the rules that were in place. For us personally we are not on the beach and not encroaching on beach land on watershed land. Few will argue that our small resort is not beautiful and an asset to the island.

We are more than happy to pay more tax or to upgrade or pay to upgrade or even to purchase the land "again" at a fair price. That is not the issue. But the schadenfreude displayed here is just sad to read. I can mention a lot of resorts on the beach that I would for sure prefer to be forced off the beach, no question, but it is has never been in my power to raise the issue with any one.

For all of you that now gloat and "hope" we will all be evicted I urge you to think about fairly normal people that we lucky enough to build both honest and sustainable businesses. That work honestly and hard to make Koh Tao a better place. That have nothing to do with drugs, murders or the taxi mafia. Put yourself in our shoes and consider whether we really just deserve to lose everything we have worked 20 years to achieve.

Once you have done that, then please feel free to spew your venomous comments and "som na nas", but try to think out our children that loose their future possibilities and heritage first.

We wanted to buy land on other islands and half of the places didn't had the correct land titles, without them we could not buy it. But had some fun from the locals who sold the same plot of land twice or three times with doggy documents. In one case to a high ranking police and a high ranking military. With all the island waiting for the war.

On top of it is inside a protected area.

In my country you can't buy farmer land if you aren't a farmer. On farmer land you can't build a building. And there is abuse and as long as no one figures it out you can have the house there, once the authorities know you must remove it. Here the rules are different and also difficult, but should be enforced.

Would you buy a second hand car without the proper documents? Most probably not, but on land you think it is OK?

I am not disputing the fact that land titles on Koh Tao were always a problem. But why do they have a land office there then. Why do they have a government paid employee taking care of land titles and accepting tax from said land. The problem is, in my humble opinion, that the Thai government by virtue of accepting things as they were for many many years have by default agreed to the way things were and the way things are now. Therefore they should not just be able to issue a statement saying that half of xxx resorts will be evicted. Most of the resorts look nice etc. How about evicting the ten or so 7/11s, the Top Charoens, The Motorbike Scamming Shops.

Clearly something needs to be done. The fair way would be to offer the current land holders the right to purchase or rent the land at a fair rate. All other islands such as Koh Phangan and Koh Samui also had the same original titles as Koh Tao. Why doesn't Koh Tao have the right to be upgraded ?

I think they told 90% of the land titles are wrong but only 50 % of the resorts must be removed. At the end they will only do the worst cases with no titles or in national parks.

If someone has a land title that allows to use it as farm land of course he can sell it and the government employee accepting tax, even a small hotel on farm land is OK, but when it gets a 100% resort it is wrong. But again the bigger concerns are places without any land title.

And the land offices are of course corrupt and everyone is a relative of someone on the small islands.

[kohtaoresortowner]

H90 I think we are actually on the same page. We bought our land and have a clear title from Koh Tao's Obador (sorry don't know how to spell it) but basically land office/administrative office/caretake office with all the right stamps, measurements and so forth. We bought it from an old guy that subsequently sold to another local next to us and he's kept a big part for himself with the proceeds and opened a cheap bungalow resort. Everyone has gained something and I assume we've all paid tax and we all pay yearly land taxes. Initially we used our land solely for residential use. Then it was turned into a private villa and slow now a small resort. The resort next door is roughly the same size. Below us there is 50 bungalow resort all the way down to the water's edge. At the end of the road we've got Dusit Buncha Resort owned by a Chumphon big shot and of course there is the Koh Tao Montra and Coral Grand both 50+ room resorts right on the beach owned by a Chumphon big shot as well.

All I know is that a lot of shit has been built on Koh Tao, but not more so than Koh Samui or Koh Phangan. A lot of ugly shit I would applaud if it was torn down. Basically all of Sairee Beach has been screwed up on the beach side by the same family and they are the original landowners from 50+ years ago and have handed part of it over to their children, who has actually done a better job, but nevertheless they have still built big ugly buildings hiding the beach. Tear that down if it is against regulations, but let them keep their land - just use it sustainably and beautifully.

That's my two cents.

[h90]

H90 I think we are actually on the same page. We bought our land and have a clear title from Koh Tao's Obador (sorry don't know how to spell it) but basically land office/administrative office/caretake office with all the right stamps, measurements and so forth. We bought it from an old guy that subsequently sold to another local next to us and he's kept a big part for himself with the proceeds and opened a cheap bungalow resort. Everyone has gained something and I assume we've all paid tax and we all pay yearly land taxes. Initially we used our land solely for residential use. Then it was turned into a private villa and slow now a small resort. The resort next door is roughly the same size. Below us there is 50 bungalow resort all the way down to the water's edge. At the end of the road we've got Dusit Buncha Resort owned by a Chumphon big shot and of course there is the Koh Tao Montra and Coral Grand both 50+ room resorts right on the beach owned by a Chumphon big shot as well.

All I know is that a lot of shit has been built on Koh Tao, but not more so than Koh Samui or Koh Phangan. A lot of ugly shit I would applaud if it was torn down. Basically all of Sairee Beach has been screwed up on the beach side by the same family and they are the original landowners from 50+ years ago and have handed part of it over to their children, who has actually done a better job, but nevertheless they have still built big ugly buildings hiding the beach. Tear that down if it is against regulations, but let them keep their land - just use it sustainably and beautifully.

That's my two cents.

I am not sure if I am right, but I got told that the beaches itself are public areas and no one can claim it.

We passed somewhere between Nakhon and Surat (I am not sure if it is still Nakhon but I think), they removed the Mangroves flatten the area put some stones+land there and build something. Some fishermen are very upset, as some fishes uses the mangroves for breeding.

When you hear Dr. Than (spelling??) a marine expert who dives every spot himself you get very sad about the damage which is done. In Koh Tao it was also said that some resorts doesn't clean the waste water (or not proper) which will destroy the corals.

So much to do and I applaud a heavy hand approach as long as they only target the real wrong doer and not the easier small guys.

[Rimmer]

A post has been removed

[mmh8]

just how would one go about enforcing national park rules anyhow, even the one mile within radius of a mountain ( Thai definition of a mountain being a hill or bump by most standards) is not enforced but flaunted all over the coutnry

[ldiablo]

So this article was published in April. It is now July. Has anything happened? anything.

[englishoak]

So this article was published in April. It is now July. Has anything happened? anything.

Why did you think something was going to ?

[ldiablo]

@englishoak. Of course not. Just another case of smoke and mirrors.

[NCC1701A]

how about this. you give up the real murders and you keep your stolen land...

[spidermike007]

Dark Tao has long been an outlaw island. Most of that land is leased from the government, and a lot of the fortunes made by the five families on Tao were made from illicit land sales. So, it about time the government did something about it. Will they, or is this just a lot of talk? I hope they do. If they can't arrest the real murderer, at least they can punish his family in some way. That would be a kind of justice, I suppose.

[onionluke]

Most of the large hotels/resorts are owned by Thais. Who are these people getting super rich by leasing land to foreigners ? Please name examples since you know so much ?

Montra Resort (Local Chumphon business man)

Coral Grand Reslrt (Local Chumphon business man)

Regal Resort (local koh tao thai)

Sensi Paradise (local koh tao thai)

haad tien beach resort (bangkok family but thai)

Jamahkiri (yes, that one is foreigner)

Thipwimarn (local koh tao person)

Dusit Buncha (Chumphon hotel owner)

Charm Churee Villa + Bamboo Huts (local bangkok family)

Bans Diving resort (local koh tao family)

Most of Sairee such as a seashell, lotus, bowthong, koh tao island resort (local koh tao thais)

Ac Resort, Flower, Resort, ac 2 resort and so on (local koh tao family)

Buddha View Diving Resort (local thai owner from koh tao).

View Point Resort (local koh tao thai)

Freedom Beach Resort (local koh tao thai)

JP Resort (local koh tao thai)

Tropicana Reosrt (local koh tao thai)

Ko Tao Resort + Paradise Zone (local koh tao thai)

Please know your facts.

The only "Foreign" I can think of is Cape Shark Villas which is more of a villa sales / project develper believed to be swedish

Is Taraporn still there ?

[lildragon]

If Prayuth went down there, cracked skulls, caught the real murderers of two innocent tourists, locked up the murderers, put them families on try for illicit activities and took away their land I'd take him a LOT more seriously.

Has he done it? No. He publicly endorsed the farce of a police investigation. Why? The village headman is very good friends with an influential southern politician who is owed a lot of favours.

Cleaning up corruption my white farang hide!

[BoristheBlade]

Payback time for Ms Nomsod and Mpn hopefully, your time is near gentlemen.

[oldsailor35]

Disband all the leases and start again with limited accesses. Stop the big owners who have manipulated their powers to become millionaires.

[Soutpeel]

The islands Mafia, I would say that due to corruption. Every island is controlled is controlled by Thai mafia.. Nothing changes.

But if you belive the RTP glee club who post every day to counter everything commented on about the murder trial, they state catagorically there are no Mafia on KT

[oldsailor35]

I'll believe it when I see it. Was once such a beautiful place and now it's the backpacker murder capital. ?

This is what happens when just a couple of Thai families have unbridled control. They should be disenfranchised and sent back to where they came from.

[Soutpeel]

Which half?

The half owned by one family or the others?

Don't worry, the time has come for all of them to pay what is due for a long time.

Give some credit to this government for their efforts to clear this country from these vermin

Costas, could you give us an example in which the government has succeeded so far.

This present government has succeeded in many areas Anthony ... from corruption to land encroachment and now have lifted Martial Law. But the main success was to rid this country of the Shinewatras and their band of theives.. The General deserves a medal , but one man can only do so much and he needs the help of all Thai citizens to try and sort what is wrong in Thailand.. as John Lennon said... "give peace a chance"

John Lennon would not be pleased with the Junta and you sir need to do some homework.

John Lennon doesnt care, i know you may live in a time warp, but he died a long time ago in case you didnt know

And what gives you the right to talk on behalf of John Lennon anyway ?

[oldsailor35]

I so hope this goes forward! Samui, Phangan and koh Tao need a good clean from top to bottom.

Here on Samui , entrepreneurs are still taking over beaches for their own businesses, signs declaring beachfronts as "Private property"

[oldsailor35]

Barely 10 per cent of buildings and plots have legal sanctions while most resorts do not have proper land lease agreements, department director general Chakkrit Parapanthakul said.

In regard to settlers who encroached on the banned zone, he said he would consult relevant agencies before deciding whether to evict them.

Certain resorts were built on plots banned for public places.

The cost of "illegally" leasing Koh Tao plots soared to about 30 million baht per rai despite the lack of land ownership documents.

If all of this is true then why aren't these criminals brought to justice. Milky their wallets illegally for many many years is still a crime in Thailand and I could swear i read that the Gov is taking land encroachment seriously now and convicting offenders without prejudice. Seems like a lot of prejudice is going to have there in Khao Tao with them picking and choosing which land encroachment offender will lose their hotel. I think a lot of milk money is going to be spread their to the right officials and this will all be forgotten or re-designated so the hotels can continue to milk money from tourists at the govs expense

Every single lease must be listed and graded, plus reasons given for decisions of "For" or "Against" Where no leases are legally proven, then the area must be cleared. Strict measures are the only way to save Koh Tao and its surrounding reefs. The free trading and false ownership has been allowed to continue for too long.

Edited September 15, 2015 by oldsailor35

[oldsailor35]

Island people always resent mainland people. They are not mafia they are just not part of the Hiso Thai priveliged elite so they are criminalised by whom? The power elite and their failed farang. The so called island mafia are the real people. and they, for decades gave us the fun to break out of our chains. .no wonder the farang neo nazi freaks hate a free island community. Why don't you all go home and persecute your own people?

Where do the "island people" come from, i always believed that Koh Tao was a prison island owned by the Thai government.

[oldsailor35]

Why are crypto fascist loonies allowed to call Thai people vermin just because they are loso business operators not the self promoting , generationaly entitled hiso gangster elite? If Costa holds the lower classes of Thailand and their leaders in such contempt why doesn't he just go back to his Greek island of Tossoff and campaign for a new Greek fascist Junta?

This is just a stab in the dark but, I bet you can play a guitar.

No. But I can play the pandemonium!

Yeah ! and probably , quite often, the "one eyed piccalo"

[oldsailor35]

Which half?

The half owned by one family or the others?

Don't worry, the time has come for all of them to pay what is due for a long time.

Give some credit to this government for their efforts to clear this country from these vermin

Bull feathers! Horse hockey! Suthep's son has scads of encroached land on Ko Samui, it is said by many Thais. No investigations there........why?

Take three guesses, and the first two don't count. And what about the government land that daddy gave his hi-so friends on Phuket. which was reserved for poor Thai farmers

[oldsailor35]

20 years ago I bought a plot of land with the help of the local land office and the land owner. 3 rai to be exact. First I built a family home that I lived in and where my son was born. Slowly the family home was extended to a small but prosperous resort for which we pay tax yearly as we are asked to do and have gotten permission to build from the local land office. We've all known that the land titles in Koh Tao are not similar to the rest of Thailand. But why not actually ? All small islands started as Crown Property and were then upgraded to better titles. Why not Koh Tao.

It is extremely saddening to read all the gloating here on TV about how all of us that have worked hard to invest and built something for our sons and daughters just deserve to lose everything. Most have us have played by the rules that were in place. For us personally we are not on the beach and not encroaching on beach land on watershed land. Few will argue that our small resort is not beautiful and an asset to the island.

We are more than happy to pay more tax or to upgrade or pay to upgrade or even to purchase the land "again" at a fair price. That is not the issue. But the schadenfreude displayed here is just sad to read. I can mention a lot of resorts on the beach that I would for sure prefer to be forced off the beach, no question, but it is has never been in my power to raise the issue with any one.

For all of you that now gloat and "hope" we will all be evicted I urge you to think about fairly normal people that we lucky enough to build both honest and sustainable businesses. That work honestly and hard to make Koh Tao a better place. That have nothing to do with drugs, murders or the taxi mafia. Put yourself in our shoes and consider whether we really just deserve to lose everything we have worked 20 years to achieve.

Once you have done that, then please feel free to spew your venomous comments and "som na nas", but try to think out our children that loose their future possibilities and heritage first.

Are you and your family part of the controlling Thai mafia ? If not, then you have nothing to worry about have you.