The Thai government is expected to come under pressure to speed up the probe into the Kanchanaburi encroachment scandal after a group of ngo s conducting a fact-finding mission concluded that the three luxury villas overlooking Srinakharin Dam are in a watershed area.
The ngo s' move is expected to lend more weight to the opposition's censure bid, now pending in Parliament against interior minister Sanan Kachornprasart. New Aspiration deputy leader Chalerm Yubamrung put Sanan under the media spotlight when he implied that one of the villas belonged to the minister.
Sanan has denied owning any land at the spot, while the Kanchanaburi assistant governor has admitted that the villas were located on the land belonging to his daughter. Some 60 members of the ngo who attended a round-table discussion in Kanchanaburi concluded that the three controversial villas overlooking Srinakharin Dam in Si Sawat district are apparently in a watershed area. He also said that the land documents for them are most likely to have been improperly issued by state officials.
The participants represent the Sueb Nakhasathien Foundation, the Kanchanaburi Conservationist Group, the Campaign for Popular Democracy, the Union for Civil Liberties, the Law Society of Thailand and other organisations.
Rataya Chanthien, president of the Sueb Nakhasathien Foundation, said a survey conducted by the Kanchanaburi Conservationist Group suggested that the three villas are located in an area which should have been kept as a watershed. The group found 40 other houses built in the same area. The meeting agreed to submit an open letter to the prime minister's office calling for them to take legal action against state officials responsible for the issuing of the land documents.
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