Politicians call for swift end to probe

PHUKET: The Thai Rak Thai party’s candidate for MP in the next parliamentary elections, Dr Prasit Koeysiripong, has added his voice to those calling for a swift conclusion to the land investigation currently underway in Phuket. Dr Prasit, who is currently the President of the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor), told the Gazette today that although he did not have complete knowledge of the issues, he believed the investigation was a good thing, but that there should be a fixed deadline for its conclusion. “I have not been following the land problem too closely, and I don’t have deep knowledge of the issues, but I would like to see the government clear this up and announce as soon as possible which pieces of land are problem-free and which areas have problems and pose a risk to business. “Otherwise, there may be an effect on those who want to invest in business in Phuket. Even private buyers who just want to build a home will worry about this,” Dr Prasit added. He stressed that he did not believe that politics was a factor in the investigation because there was no political gain to be made from the probe. He said that no one had complained to him, as the TRT candidate, about the investigation. Paiboon Upatising, Phuket’s Senator and the owner of the five Phuket Villa developments, told the Gazette that he too supported the government in its investigation because Phuket had had a problem with land for a long time, and there had never been such a serious attempt to clarify things. “If a thorough investigation is not done now, then there will be more problems in the future,” he said. He too felt that the probe should be wrapped up swiftly and that the investigators should announce to investors which pieces of land are legal and which are not. He added that the Land Department will check suspect land papers very carefully, and any officer involved with illegal registration of land will be punished. He suggested that anyone considering investing in Phuket should first check land titles very thoroughly because there were risks in buying land, especially land that had beautiful views but no neighbors. “You have to ask yourself, ‘How come I have found such a beautiful piece of land, but no one else has discovered it?’ You should always check on the pieces of land next to the one you are interested in. If the land is the only one in the area that has a Chanote, you have to wonder why.”