Photo: Tom FiskBangkok Post | 27 February 2025Chinese firm accused of Chachoengsao land grab
The Senate Natural Resources and Environment Committee is intensifying its investigation into a Chinese business illegally clearing over 600 rai of national forest land in Chachoengsao's Tha Takiab district to cultivate durian.
Cheewapap Cheewatham, the committee chairman, chaired a meeting on Wednesday with representatives from the Royal Forest Department (RFD) and the Chachoengsao Provincial Natural Resources and Environment Office after receiving complaints from locals about illegal durian orchards in the Khwae Rabom and Siyat National Forest Reserves.
The RFD has since seized the area.
He said the committee had instructed the RFD to investigate and gather information, including details on local residents selling reserved forest land — allocated under the National Land Policy Committee programme — to a foreign investor.
Preliminary findings indicate that the perpetrators violated Section 54 of the Forest Act by illegally occupying forest land and Section 14 of the National Reserved Forest Act by encroaching on a national reserved forest area, he said.
A website check revealed that the Chinese corporation publicly promoted its 5,335 rai of durian farms in Thailand and 339 rai in Malaysia. Electrical, irrigation and infrastructure systems were almost fully established.
“We demand a thorough investigation and prosecution of all involved parties, not just local nominees. Authorities must identify investors, officials and individuals who sold designated property to the Chinese business. Everyone involved in the illegal land transaction must face legal consequences,” he said.
The committee will summon Tha Takiab police for further testimony at its next hearing.
Additionally, the RFD has been tasked with developing concrete measures to prevent future encroachments on national forest land and enforcing the removal of illegal durian orchards to restore the area, he stated.
According to Phansak Thammarat, head of Natural Resources at the Chachoengsao Provincial Natural Resources and Environment Office, an inquiry revealed that a Thai-owned company had been acquiring land from local residents, amassing 1,400 rai for cashew nut farming.
However, the company later sold the land to the Chinese business, which has already planted durian on 450 rai of its 600-rai plot while allowing locals to cultivate crops on the remaining land.
Authorities are now taking legal action against the residents who illegally sold their land rights, he added.
