Paiboon, who is also Justice minister, rebuked Damrong for speaking to the press on the matter without giving him the evidence first.

Paiboon said if he found any wrongdoing in relation to this, he would take action against the concerned officials himself.

“It’s annoying,” Paiboon said, referring to several allegations made against officials in relation to several cases, including the most recent one related to Rajabhakti Park.

Damrong on Sunday spoke to some members of the press about the boundary adjustment at Sirinat National Park, where he once led raids and arrested resort owners for allegedly encroaching into the park. Some properties are worth billions of baht, prompting strong resistance from the owners, who decided to take their case to court and opt for lengthy legal procedures rather than give up their land.

Some cases are now with the Department of Special Investigation.

Paiboon said there were subcommittees in all provinces as well as regional level panels to examine and verify the boundaries of state land nationwide after the state map was changed to a 1:4,000 ratio across the board. Hence, he believes no wrongdoing should have occurred, as claimed by Damrong.

The work has been carried out for several years and will be up for a major review by his committee on Thursday. Damrong called for the committee to review the work done in several areas as it may have favoured forest encroachers. He put the loss of forestland in Sirinat Park down to a false boundary adjustment over some 1,200 rai.

Meanwhile, Damrong told The Nation that he had already given evidence to the minister at his secretary’s office.

Sirinat National Park Chief Kittipat Tharaphiban conceded that the forest boundary at the park had been wrongly adjusted, but put it down to a simple mistake. His department as well as the Royal Forestry Department supervising the area have acknowledged the problem and have decided to look into it.

New boundary to be reviewed

Kittipat said the new boundary should be reviewed or it would almost entirely affect the forestland and the forest reserve boundaries, as claimed by Damrong should the committee insist on endorsing it.

He believes that Damrong has solid evidence from his former subordinates, and chose to blow the whistle before the state land incurs any losses.

Meanwhile, the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) summoned people involved in two more cases of encroachment on land totalling 100 rai in the park. They were charged with forging evidence and using land-occupation documents known as Sor Kor 1 to claim forestland in the park as well as in the forest reserve. They were also charged with encroaching. DSI investigators plan to speed up the land-rights revocation process with the Land Department to suspend any activities before further damage occurs to the land.

Some state officials have also been charged with malfeasance for helping encroachers gain land documents.