Two plots of land in Thailand’s Saraburi Province, owned by famous singer Yuenyong Opakul, aka “Aed Carabao”, are not located in Thap Kwang-Muak Lek national forest reserves, according to the Forest Department.
Cheewapap Cheewatham, deputy director-general of Forest Department, said today (Thursday) that the department has checked the two parcels of land, covering an area of 5.6 hectares, by using satellite mapping and comparing it with the department’s maps. The result shows that the land in question is outside the forest reserves.
He said, however, that an iron gate, at the entrance to the two plots of land, was found to be within the boundary of the forest reserves, adding that the fence there is reported to have been erected by some Thais and foreigners, to prevent villagers from entering the forest.
Regarding the “nor sor 3 kor” land certificates for the two plots in question, Cheewapap said that it is the responsibility of the Land Department to find out whether they were legally issued and to whom.
Officials from the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) and political activist Veera Somkwamkid had previously inspected the land in question and claimed that it encroached on the Tap Kwang-Muak Lek national forest reserve.
Cheewapap insists that satellite mapping can pinpoint the location of the two plots with a high degree of accuracy and is different from the application used by the PACC when checking the land demarcation.
