Marine Office prepares to tackle Mai Khao encroachment

PHUKET: The Phuket Marine Office yesterday vowed to take action against a business owner who has allegedly constructed a building on public beach land in Mai Khao.

Earlier this month, the building owner, Somboon Pakdee, was summoned for discussions to allow him to clarify his position.

“Locals from Moo 5, Baan Laem La, filed a complaint that Mr Somboon had undertaken construction on public beach land,” said Borpit Chomchuey of the Phuket Marine Office.

“Our investigations revealed that there was some construction, including walls and a building, overlapping public land. So, we issued a letter calling the owner to talk, but he ignored it and did not come to meet us.”

The Phuket Marine Office is now preparing to file public land encroachment charges against Mr Somboon, as per the Building Control Act BE 2522.

The incident follows a spate of recent public land encroachment cases in Phuket, including the long-debated four-billion-baht land titles at Freedom Beach, which have been under review by the Department of Forestry and the Royal Thai Navy since May (story here).

— Winai Sarot