Shady land deals threaten coastal
   wilderness

      The Nation
      Friday, Feb 12, 1999

      Whether Trang's Haad Chaomai National Park will remain
      relatively unscarred by tourism and development depends
      on who controls the land.

      3D Vision by James Fahn

      Visitors to Haad Chaomai National Park in Trang are
      often surprised at just how quiet the place is. If not quite as
      spectacular as Krabi, the park does have many of the
      same attributes: long stretches of beach, stunning
      limestone cliffs, abundant coral reefs, palm-fringed
      islands, even pods of dolphins and dugongs, the symbol of
      this southern province.

      Local investors, keen to exploit this natural bounty,
      complain that much of Trang's prime beachfront land at
      Chaomai has been declared part of the conservation
      area. But a similar situation did not prevent development
      in and around the Phi Phi Islands-Haad Nopparat Thara
      National Park in Krabi. Rampant encroachment there led
      to a construction boom, paving the way for the polluted,
      overcrowded conditions so evident today.

      It may only be a matter of time before the tourists get fed
      up with Krabi and move south. So ultimately, the fate of
      Chaomai may rest on who controls the land there, and
      that's a complicated issue.

      In the past, park authorities have come into conflict with
      the expanding villages at Ban Chaomai and on Ko Muk by
      trying to limit their activities. The villagers retort that they
      have been living in the area since well before the park was
      established -- it is the park which has encroached on their
      territory, not vice versa.

      The villagers complain they cannot even obtain street
      addresses for their houses, much less proper land title
      deeds, which according to the law should be given to
      anyone who can prove residence prior to the park's
      declaration. Meanwhile, they point out, investors seem
      able to obtain land wherever they want.

      That may be an exaggeration, but it certainly seems that
      where deeds are awarded, they end up in the hands of
      wealthy outsiders. The moral of the story? If you want to
      gain ownership of land around Chaomai, it's best to have
      solid financial backing.

      The most notorious case is at Haad Chang Lang, a long
      stretch of pristine beach located right in the heart of the
      national park, just a few kilometres from the park
      headquarters. It was here that in the 1980s, 10 Nor Sor 3
      Kor land title deeds covering 180 rai of beachfront land
      were handed out, based on some Sor Khor 1 documents
      which allegedly proved that villagers had used the land in
      question before it became parkland.

      But in a report filed in 1989, investigators from the Royal
      Forestry Department (RFD) noted many discrepancies
      between the Nor Sor 3 Kor deeds and the Sor Khor 1
      papers. The size and shapes of the land plots often don't
      match up: for instance, papers allegedly proving previous
      use for 30 rai of land were turned into deeds that covered
      a total of 78 rai. In another case, ownership for a plot of
      land at the mouth of a stream was awarded even though,
      according to the RFD report, the land in question was
      under the sea at the time the Sor Khor 1 papers said it
      was being used. Meanwhile, plots described as
      ''grasslands'' on paper actually appear to be dense forest
      in real life.

      Privately, investigators believe this is a typical case of
      chanot bin, or ''flying deeds'', a common ploy used by
      encroachers whereby papers for one plot of land are used
      to gain ownership of another, more valuable, plot. The
      Counter Corruption Commission (CCC) agreed, at least
      in part. In 1992, it concluded that four of the original 10 Nor
      Sor 3 Kor deeds should not have been handed out.

      Suspicions were heightened by the fact that, while the title
      deeds were initially awarded to local villagers, they were
      quickly sold on to big-time investors. Pichet
      Phanvichartkul, the Democrat MP for Krabi, bought five rai
      of land just 10 days after it became private property. Salil
      Tohtubtiang, a wealthy businessmen whose brother Surin
      owns Trang's Thumrin Hotel and serves as president of
      the province's chamber of commerce, bought eight rai of
      land approximately three months after the deeds came
      out.

      Meanwhile, Prakij Rattamanee, a former Democrat MP
      from Trang, was awarded ownership of 10 rai of land, and
      then bought another two rai. He has since built a hotel, the
      Chang Lang Resort, and a real estate project there.
      Another landowner is Wech Kiman, whose wife worked in
      the provincial planning office when it designed a couple of
      major road construction projects inside the park.

      Pichet, Salil and Wech all claim they have done nothing
      wrong (Prakij would no doubt say the same, only he has
      refused to speak to The Nation). In fact, they say, they are
      victims in this case, because they have purchased private
      land that now appears to be of dubious origin. Indeed, the
      CCC does not accuse the landowners of any wrongdoing;
      it is rather the provincial officials involved who may have
      broken the law -- although who knows what a more
      thorough investigation might reveal.

      But since the CCC report was released, nothing has
      happened. In theory, it is up to the RFD to file a complaint,
      after which the governor and the provincial prosecutor can
      file suit to revoke the deeds. But the former governor
      Yongyuth Wichaidit (now the deputy permanent secretary
      at the Ministry of Interior) said he didn't have enough proof
      to move ahead, and the current governor Chalermchai
      Preechanond says he doesn't even know about the case,
      despite the fact he has worked in Trang for many years.

      The RFD, meanwhile, has refrained from taking action. It
      tried to get deeds revoked in a similar case on Ko Poda,
      an island off Ao Nang in Krabi where land ownership was
      granted on the basis of a supposedly pre-existing coconut
      plantation. A check on the trees showed they were much
      younger than the owners claimed. Nevertheless, the local
      prosecutor simply refused to file suit. Similar land
      controversies surround national parks all over Thailand.
      RFD chief Plodprasop Surasawadee has now ordered a
      review of all these cases, before deciding on a
      comprehensive plan of action.

      Meanwhile, what is to be the fate of Haad Chaomai
      National Park? According to Pichet, Surin once had a plan
      to develop a major resort complex along Chang Lang
      Beach. But Surin says that never proved feasible, given
      the divided ownership there. He recently talked of building
      a ''small resort'', but he also seems genuinely concerned
      about the reputation of his province, and thus is unsure
      which way to proceed.

      So long as the land along Chang Lang Beach remains
      largely undeveloped, there is a chance that a compromise
      can be reached to preserve the park's pristine nature.
      Camping is now popular in the park, but if resorts must be
      built, perhaps they can be confined to Pak Meng Beach,
      which has already been partially developed. Perhaps the
      Thai government can eventually buy back the controversial
      land at Chang Lang at a fair market price.

      One of the last real stretches of coastal wilderness left in
      Thailand, Haad Chaomai National Park can still be
      preserved. But it will take a good deal of cooperation, and
      a lot of good will, to save it.


      James Fahn is a journalist who currently works on the TV
      show ''Rayngan Si-khiow'', which can be seen every
      Sunday at 2 pm on iTV. He can be reached via e-mail at
      jfahn@nation.nationgroup.com