Interior Ministry orders revocation of land in Buri Ram, including Chang Arena

The Interior ministry has given the greenlight to the Land Department to start revoking land title deeds and other land occupation rights covering about 800 hectares at Khao Kradong, in Buri Ram’s Muang district, including the Chang Arena and Chang International Circuit owned by the Chidchob family.

Interior Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said on Friday that 20 plots, covering 46 hectares, where both the Chang Arena and Chang International Circuit are located, were illegally acquired. All 800 hectares of the land at Khao Kradong belong to the State Railway of Thailand, as ruled by the Supreme Court in 2018 and the Central Administrative Court in 2023.

He explained that this is not a political move, as widely speculated, to get back at the Bhumjaithai party, but is to right a wrong, because the Land Department has, for several tears, steadfastly refused to revoke the land rights, as ruled by the courts.

Many people have laid claim to the land, including the Chidchob family. The 800 hectares has been divided into 850 plots, currently occupied by a number of people, including 20 land plots claimed by the Chidchob family.

Phumtham said that a committee was set up on July 21st, by Deputy Interior Minister Det-it Khaothong, who is in charge of the Land Department, to investigate why previous directors-general of the Land Department had refused to invalidate the occupation rights or land title deeds, even though the law empowered them to do so.

Revocation of the land rights may, however, have to wait, because Pornpote Penpas, the director-general of Land Department, has recently asked for a transfer.

A key reason why the Land Department has refused to implement the rulings of the courts is thought to be that the Interior Ministry has been dominated by the Bhumjaithai party, until this year, when the party quit the Pheu Thai-led coalition government.

Newin Chidchob is widely believed to be the de facto leader of the Bhumjaithai Party and the driving force behind its decisions and actions.

As the land belongs to the SRT, Phumtham said those who have acquired the land honestly can take their cases to court, or the state may lease the plots to them.