There is no question the campaign by the red shirts against Privy Councillor Surayud Chulanont has a purely political aim. Pressured by the widespread publicity, his high stature in society and the legal circumstances of the case, Gen Surayud will most likely be forced to give up his much-loved resort lodge at Khao Yai Thiang in Nakhon Ratchasima. But no matter what the red shirts' motive may be, the onslaught is likely to stir up the seemingly forgotten controversy involving illegal ownership of state land by others across the country.
Directly feeling the heat from the campaign are undoubtedly Gen Surayud's 150-odd neighbours who reportedly acquired their properties in the same manner. Most, if not all, have purchased their plots from poor people who were given the land by the state with the standing rule that they must use it for farming. The land can be passed on to their descendants but cannot be sold to anyone.
The public prosecutors, the Forestry Department and state authorities involved have been reluctant until recently to enforce the law, after the Khao Yai Thiang scandal emerged a few years ago. It may be fair to say this reluctance has been caused by the landholders' social and financial influence and also by the officials' own ignorance and probable vested interest in the land grabbing spree.
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