PHUKET AUTHORITIES yesterday sent an investigative team to a disputed 21-rai plot of land on Naga Noi Island, while the Lands Department pledged to revoke any illegally registered title and punish the people involved.

Phuket deputy governor Chokdee Amornwat led a team of personnel from the Provincial Lands Office, Forest Department and other agencies to inspect the disputed land and found no illegal activity, as no big trees were cut down and only concrete stairs were built up the mountain.

Puri Hiranprueck, whose family owns 53 rai on Naga Noi Island, a small island off the western coast of Phuket, said Six Mountain Company, which claimed ownership of the disputed land, had made an armed threat against his family. He claimed they would cut down the forest on its land, on Wednesday.

Puri also said the disputed area was lush forestland, unused by anyone, and the habitat of endangered hornbills.

Chokdee said that as the team has seen the activity in the area, the company still has the right to do so because its land document has not yet been revoked.

“The province is an official agency, so we have to provide justice to both Puri’s family and Six Mountain Company.

“As the investigation has not been concluded and there was no official order yet, the title [of Six Mountain Company] is still considered legal,” he said.

During the inspection, the team also found three men from Six Mountain Company guarding the area. Sayan Sanban, one of the guards, said they have no weapons, and have no plan to bring tractors to the island. He denied the Hiranprueck family had been threatened.

He said they were just asked by the landowner to look after the land due to the recent conflict with the Hiranprueck family.

Chokdee said the investigation of the land registration was still ongoing and the Lands Department’s investigation panel was now gathering evidence.

The decision on revoking |the title will be made early next month.

Apinun Suetanuwong, director-general of the Lands Department, said the committee was investigating how the land deed got registered in the first place.

If it were found that the document was illegally registered, the title would be cancelled and officials involved in the registration punished, he said.

However, Thon Thamrong-nawasawat, a leading marine ecologist, said the disputed land is a national forest preserve and cannot be registered.

“Anyone in Phuket knows that the island belonged to the Hiranprueck family. As I’ve known the family for a long time, I |can assure that only the Hiranprueck family had the title to the island.

“Their land document is legal because they registered it before the national forest preserve was declared, while the rest of the island is the forest,” Thon said.

“There are several cases like this in Phuket and this case will be a precedent for the others, so the authority has to investigate how the land document was registered,” he said.