The House committee's meeting yesterday.

Draft boundary line BE 2543 for Thap Lan rechecked before being submitted to ONLB’s land policy and management sub-panel: ONLB

Ground surveys, however, had not been made until after the March 14 Cabinet Resolution last year, the land policy body said

ONLB’s Deputy Director Suriyon Patcharakruganont told Bangkok Tribune yesterday after the meeting at Parliament organised to hear facts concerning controversial boundary adjustment at Thap Lan National Park that the ONLB’s One Map sub-panel responsible for boundary adjustment on overlapping state land had rechecked the draft boundary line BE 2543 proposal with satellite images before submitting it along with other proposals to the ONLB’s land policy and management sub-panel to decide. Ground surveys along the draft boundary line, however, had not been made until after the March 14 Cabinet Resolution, which endorsed it early last year.

The ground surveys, claimed to be undertaken by all concerned agencies’ representatives, looked into 58 spots along the line that needed repairs. They were wrapped within one week in the mid-month of May. Changes in the landscape and land use in the area along the draft boundary line were not examined, however, according to a source close to the issue.

The One Map sub-panel proceeded with the proposal submission in late 2022 following the ONLB’s internal processes, which were guided by the Prayut Cabinet Resolution in November of the same year. If concerned agencies cannot settle One Map together, the issue should be forwarded to the ONLB’s land policy and management sub-panel to decide, according to the Cabinet Resolution.

One Map is the state’s attempt to clarify overlapping boundaries of different types of state land by using the detailed map with a ratio 1: 4000 to draw a unified new boundary line along those overlapping areas. The mission is overseen by the ONLB, and Thap Lan is among the critical cases that have unsettled lines of One Map.

Its critical boundary contradiction point is over the land plots between the park and the agricultural reform land, Alro. Each claims its validity using its existing boundary lines. The national park’s boundary line in use is the BE 2524 version, which is accused of having no proper ground checks when being first declared and has overlapped with other properties.

The controversial draft boundary line BE 2543 proposal was submitted to the land policy and management sub-panel along with other options in an attempt to resolve the park’s embattled boundary, according to the ONLB. 

The land policy and management sub-panel, chaired by Gen Prawit Wongsuwan, the Deputy PM at that time, eventually decided to pick the draft boundary line BE 2543 to be used as the updated boundary line for Thap Lan. If it takes effect, the national park could see the loss of a vast tract of its forestland of over 260,000 rai while gaining back around 110,000 rai.

The issue had gone unnoticed among public members until after the Prayut Cabinet endorsed the proposal on March 14 last year. This has prompted outcries from the public since, for fears of the loss of the vast forest tract of Thap Lan, the country’s second-largest national park and part of the second Natural World Heritage Site. The biggest concern is over the loss of the forest tract to big investors, who have been developing resorts and recreational properties in the area through changing hands of occupied land. They also fear that it can have a far-flung implication on the park’s World Heritage status and the boundaries and statuses of other national parks nationwide.

The controversy has led to a public hearing, both online and on-site, organised by the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) recently. People were asked; Whether or not they agreed with the idea to use the draft boundary line BE 2543 following the March 14 Cabinet Resolution to adjust the existing boundary of the park.

The survey had been flooded with responses and campaigns, and at the end, as of July 13 at 00.05 am when the votes were counted, up to 947,107 people were reported to have engaged in the survey. 901,892 people, or 95.2%, expressed that they disagreed with the park boundary adjustment. Another 45,215 people, or 4.8%, on the other hand, said they agreed with the proposal.

The most updated map of Thap Lan with possible changes in its territory. The questionable blocks are in Group 3 with around 120,000 rai when combined as there are no clear explanations why they must be revoked along with other blocks. Credit: ONLB

The background

The adjustment of Thap Lan’s boundary based on the draft boundary line BE 2543 is based on the proposal proposed by the Ombudsman in 2019, who claims to have received complaints from the residents in the conflicting area in 2011 and 2018.

According to its clarification, the Ombudsman said the existing boundary of the national park exaggeratedly included the residential areas when it was first declared in 1981. So, this must be resolved following the April 22 BE 2540 Cabinet Resolution that focuses on the adjustment of forest boundaries as a solution (The resolution also addresses this approach, especially to Thap Lan).

However, the June 30 BE 2541 Cabinet Resolution issued a year later, which addresses a new directive to deal with overlapping claims in forest areas between the state and residents via the land rights verification process and endorsement of land use rights, already nullified the April 22 Resolution.

The draft boundary line BE 2543 that the Ombudsman referred to as its proposed solution is in fact the result of the June 30 BE 2541’s instruction given to forest officials to make their forest boundaries clear. There were no boundary lines based on the April 22 Resolution ever made completely for Thap Lan, according to concerned forest officials.

The Ombudsman, after failing to convince concerned agencies to take up its proposal, proposed the proposal to formerly PM Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha for acknowledgement and the Cabinet to endorse it in late 2020. The Cabinet, on February 2, 2021, acknowledged the Ombudsman’s proposal and instructed the Environment Ministry to take it up.

Since then, the Ombudsman’s proposal has become part of further proposals made by various state committees and agencies concerning the issue including the ONLB and its sub-panels, which eventually proposed the proposal to the Prayut Cabinet to endorse on March 14 last year, shortly before it left the office.

Among critical questions is the ONLB’s decision to waive the June 30 BE 2541 Cabinet Resolution’s clause that says; “The state shall not allocate state forest land protected under the forest laws and cabinet resolutions for agricultural land reform”. This is especially exempt for Thap Lan National Park, which is protected under the National Parks Act BE 2562. 

No clear explanations have been made before the public; as to why the Ombudsman, the ONLB and its sub-panels, as well as the Prayut government, have proceeded with the proposal in such a way despite questions over facts and legality of the draft boundary line BE 2543. This is not yet to mention arrests and court cases against illegal land grabbing of the national park’s territory that have plunged into a murky state as a result.

Asked what he foresees about the cases, Mr. Suriyon said; “Nobody can tell at this point (if the draft boundary line will affect the cases).”, adding that he believed that the court cases would not be affected considering the laws enforced during the times of arrests accordingly.

The House committee’s meeting

The House of MPs’ Standing Committee looking into issues concerning land and natural resources and the environment, which organised yesterday’s meeting, meanwhile, updated the results of the meeting through its press briefing, claiming that the meeting “unanimously” agreed with the March 14 Cabinet Resolution and the proposal to use the draft boundary line BE 2543. Some organisations and agencies including the DNP, however, stood firm on their objection to the draft boundary line BE 2543. The meeting also agreed with protecting the locals’ rights affected by the park’s 2524 boundary line.

The committee will investigate further into the minutes of meetings of the ONLB’s One Map sub-panel and the ONLB to verify and settle unsettled points raised in the meeting, including the accuracy of the draft boundary line BE 2543. Reports on arrests and court cases in the area will also be subject to its examination and verification along with the recent public hearing as it’s criticised for taking sides. Alro will also be invited to share its plans and directives regarding the management of the controversial land plots, the committee said.

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The iconic cliff of Thap Lan NP overlooking a lowland forest and villages in a far distance. Credit: Thap Lan National Park/ DNP