Reds to rally at army HQ

Bangkok Post 28/01/2010

Red-shirt protesters are free to rally in front of army headquarters on Friday, but they must abide by the law, Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said on Thursday.

Members of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) say they will gather tomorrow to demand the army to publicly clarify the rumours of a pending coup.

Mr Suthep said security forces had made preparations to handle the coming anti-government rallies. Police would be in charge of maintaining peace and order, but soldiers would be deployed if the situation gets out of control.

The protests would be allowed, provided they remained within the law.

Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon said the anti-government movement's plans to protest at the army headquarters, and later at air force headquarters, and demand clarification of coup rumours was unnecessary. The army had already made it clear there would be no coup at this time and people should not be disturbed by the rumours.

Surayud ordered to give up contested plot of land

The Nation 21/01/2010

Forest Department rules former premier not qualified to own land in Khao Yai Thiang

The Forestry Department director-general has signed an order for Privy Councillor Surayud Chulanont to abandon his land on the Khao Yai Thiang within 30 days because he is not qualified to hold the controversial plot, a source said yesterday.

Meanwhile, a former subordinate of Surayud yesterday stepped forward to deny being involved in any foul play related to the plot of land, on which the ex-premier's vacation home is located, inside the forest reserve in Nakhon Ratchasima.

Surarit Chantarathip, a retired general, said he had passed the land on to Surayud's family as a gesture of gratitude for a friendship that dated back to their military training days.

"I can vouch that I am not Surayud's nominee chosen to grab the land in a wrongful manner," he said.

Hundreds of locals had settled down in the area before Khao Yai Thiang was named a forest reserve, which led to a 1965 Cabinet resolution granting settlement rights to the villagers, though the Forestry Department got retain jurisdiction. The original settlement subsequently grew into two villages that were sanctioned under the local administrative law.

PM asked to take quick action against Surayud

Bangkok Post 20/01/2010

The United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship on Wednesday rallied at Government House, submitting a letter of complaint demanding that Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva speed up legal action against privy councillor Surayud Chulanont for alleged encroachment on national forest reserve land.

Red-shirt activists led by Suporn Attawong gave the letter to a representative from the Government House complaints centre.

The UDD letter demanded the premier, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Suwit Khunkitti and Forestry Department director-general Somchai Piensathaporn quickly bring legal action against the privy councillor and his wife who they claimed improperly possess a vacation home on forest reserve land of Khao Yai Thiang in the northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima.

If the prime minister ignores their request, the letter said, he would be in breach of Article 157 of the constitution and guilty of dereliction of duty.

The Attorney-General’s Office earlier said it would not proceed with legal action against Gen Surayud as he had purchased the land legally and it had twice changed ownership before he acquired it. The original owner had been a fault for selling it instead of passing it to his heirs or returning it to the state as stipulated by law

A Forestry Department inquiry is considering further action on the case

The protesters left the Government House compound peacefully after presenting their complaint and headed to the Office of His Majesty's Principal Private Secretary to submit a letter asking for a report on the progress of the UDD's petition seeking a royal pardon for fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra submitted to the office in August.

Gen Surarit Jantrathip, a close aide of Gen Surayud, on Wednesday denied being Gen Surayud's nominee in buying the land at Khao Yai Thiang. He said he had transferred the land to Gen Surayud's wife to ‘repay a kindness’.

Gen Surarit told a news conference that he bought the controversial land from Noppadon Pithakwanich when he had financial problems during the 1997 economic crisis and approached him for help with an offer of the land.

Gen Surarit, who was at the time director of TV Channel 5, said that five years later he gave the land to Gen Surayud's wife. He declined to say how much he had paid for the land.

"It's about military [comraderie], gratitude and shoulder-to-shoulder loyalty on the battlefield," said Gen Surayud's aide. "With the attachment we have, I repaid kindness to Gen Surayud by giving him the land. He repaid me by facilitating my heart operation."

Tape used as alleged proof of Surayud's land link

The Nation 20/01/2010

A red-shirt leader produced an audio recording at a press conference yesterday of a man claiming to have transferred the holding rights of a controversial plot of land to Privy Councillor General Surayud Chulanont's aide for free.

The plot has been reason for a lot of controversy because it houses Surayud's vacation home and the red shirts claim it located inside the forest reserve of Khao Yai Thiang in Nakhon Ratchasima.

According to red-shirt leader Natthawut Saikua the voice in the recording belonged to a Nakhon Ratchasima businessman called Noppadon Pitakvanich, who had bought it from the original landowner Bao Sinnok.

The recording was allegedly that of a conversation between Natthawut and Noppadon.

In the clip, Noppadon says that he bought the 21-ran plot from Bao, who is now a Buddhist, for Bt700,000 and five years later transferred the holding rights to Surayud's aide Colonel Surarit Chantrathip for free.

Surarit reportedly bought the land from Noppadon for Bt50,000.

UDD protests at Privy Council Office

Bangkok Post 18/01/2010

Leaders and supporters of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) gathered in front of the Privy Council Office on Monday afternoon in protest against Privy Council president Prem Tinsulanonda's and Privy Councillor Surayud Chulanont's alleged encroachment on forest reserves.

Red-shirt leaders Veera Musikhapong and Nattawut Saikua read an open letter during the demonstration, accusing the government of applying a double standard by not taking legal action against Gen Prem and Gen Surayud.

However, they said the anti-government group was not biased against any particular privy councillor.

The rally was peaceful and watched closely by a contingent of police. The red-shirts immediately dispersed after the open letter was handed to an official at the Privy Council Office.

The UDD accuses Gen Prem of encroaching on Khao Soi Dao forest reserve in Chanthaburi and Gen Surayud of encroaching on Khao Yai Thiang in Nakhon Ratchasima.

Red shirts demand quick action on Surayud's home

The Nation 16/01/2010

The red shirts yesterday gave the Royal Forest Department seven days to take legal action against Privy Councillor Surayud Chulanont and confiscate his plot of land in a forest reserve.

About 100 red shirts rallied at the department before filing a petition demanding a speedy resolution on ex-premier Surayud's vacation home, which is located inside the forest reserve of Khao Yai Thiang in Nakhon Ratchasima.

In the petition, the red shirts set a seven-day deadline for the department to complete the job. They also asked for a new survey of Surayud's plot to ensure there was no more encroachment than the 21 rai declared.

Reacting to the petition, the department's director-general, Somchai Piensataporn, said his agency was waiting for a case report to be forwarded by public prosecutors. Prosecutors earlier had decided not to pursue a case against Surayud, arguing that he had held the land honestly with no intention of encroaching into the forest reserve. Somchai said that after receiving the report, the department would take action within seven days.

Land grab a Gordian knot

Bangkok Post 15/01/2010

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.

Reds set their sights on encroachment in Chanthaburi

Bangkok Post 14/01/2010

The government can let out a sigh of relief now that the Red Shirts have dispersed from Khao Yai Thiang and in so doing have cooled political temperatures.

Red jamboree: A woman greets the crowd from the stage during a protest by the Red Shirts in Khao Yai Thiang on Monday.

But the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship protesters have not actually packed their bags and gone home.

Instead, they are heading to Chanthaburi where, they claim, the influence of amartya thipathai (regime governed by aristocratic mandarins) has resulted in encroachment on another mountain peak, with land being grabbed unchecked for years.

The Khao Yai Thiang fiasco has put the normally reserved Privy Councillor Gen Surayud Chulanont on the defensive. He has so far refused to return to the Royal Forestry Department some 20 rai of land in a forest reserve overlooking the scenic Lam Takong reservoir in Nakhon Ratchasima province.

The land was intended for landless farmers under a 1975 cabinet resolution. But that principle apparently was abused, as the tracts changed hands and some were developed into resort properties.

PM pushes for decision on Surayud land

Bangkok Post Published: 14/01/2010 at 12:00 AM. Newspaper section: News

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is pressing the Royal Forestry Department to move quickly on the dispute over land owned by Privy Councillor Surayud Chulanont in Khao Yai Thiang forest reserve.

The prime minister yesterday said the department should settle the case as soon as possible as the Office of the Attorney-General (OAG) had provided guidelines on how to deal with it.

Mr Abhisit said he wanted to defuse the political tensions between Gen Surayud and the red shirt forces because he did not want to see a conflict over a single block of land.

The OAG has concluded Gen Surayud had not violated the forest reserve law. But it suggested the land be returned to villagers who had the right to use it but not sell it. Gen Surayud said on Tuesday he would only give up control over the land in Sikhiu district in Nakhon Ratchasima after a ruling by the Royal Forestry Department.

PM meets Gen Prem

The Nation 13/01/2010

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva reportedly met Privy Councillor chairman Gen Prem Tinsulanond in a private meeting on Thursday at the latter's residence to discuss about Privy Councillor Surayud Chulanont's controversial plot of land.

Red shirts had rallied near Surayud's vacation home on Khao Yai Thieng in Nakhon Ratchasima province earlier this week. They demanded that Surayud returned the land as it is on a forest reserve.

Surayud said he was ready to do whatever the Forest Department ruled on the matter. The Office of Attorney General said there was no evidence of Surayud having any malicious intent to encroach on the forest reserve and he got the plot from a lawful owner.

During the meeting, Prem and Abhisit are reportedly touching on the red shirt plan to rally at Khao Soi Dao in Chantha Buri province.

Prem wanted the government to be proactive in explaining the issue to the public.

The UDD war plan

Bangkok Post 13/01/2010

A meeting of key members of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship has approved a planned "war" on the bureaucracy, UDD core leader Natthawur Saikua said on Wednesday afternoon.

Mr Natthawut told a press conference that this Friday Suporn Atthawong and Arisman Pongruangrong will go to the Royal Forestry Department and demand it resurvey the block of land on Khao Yai Thiang owned by privy councillor Surayud Chulanont.

Gen Surayud had reported the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) that he owned only 21 rai of land, but Mr Natthawut said he believes the former premier is occupying a bigger area of land than he had admitted.

On Jan 17, Mr Suporn will visit the Crime Suppression Division to file a complaint against Gen Surayud, accusing him of encroaching on a forest reserve.

Surayud awaits ruling before deciding on land

Bangkok Post 13/01/2010

Privy Councillor Surayud Chulanont is refusing to give up his land at Khao Yai Thiang until he is required to do so by a Royal Forest Department ruling.

The former prime minister has also shrugged off red shirt demands for him to resign his position as privy councillor.

Gen Surayud yesterday spoke publicly for the first time since the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship staged a rally in front of his holiday home in Nakhon Ratchasima on Sunday and Monday, saying he would not return to his property until the department had decided on its position.

He also repeated his position that he was not aware that he had been occupying the land in Sikhiu district illegally.

"On my part, I will only say that I am ready to obey the law," Gen Surayud said.

"When the Royal Forest Department makes a ruling, I will be ready to act accordingly."

The land scandal and the demand for his resignation as privy councillor were totally unrelated, he said.

Gen Surayud, who is also chairman of the Foundation for Khao Yai National Park  Protection, spoke at a news conference to announce a charity concert to be organised at the national park on Jan 23.

The Royal Forest Department on Monday set up a panel to look into the Surayud case. It set a 60-day deadline for it to come up with a solution.

Is the UDD serious in opposing double standards?

Bangkok Post 12/01/2010

By selectively picking on Gen Surayud Chulanont, a privy councillor and former premier, in its campaign against what it sees as the government's use of double standards, the UDD appears set on discrediting the Privy Council, not just attacking the government.

The Khao Yai Thiang land controversy represents just a tip of the iceberg of the extensive forest land encroachment problem in this country, which involves as many as 400,000 families nationwide.

Without the high social standing of Gen Surayud it would have received scant attention.

But the dramatic targeting of Gen Surayud by the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) in its weekend protest over his alleged illegal land ownership on the Khao Yai Thiang mountain in Sikhieu district of Nakhon Ratchasima puts it in a different context and appears to be intended to discredit the Privy Council.