Meanwhile, Piangjai Hanpanich, 92, – founder of real-estate firm Land and Houses – returned a 1,263-rai plot in Kanchanaburi to the provincial ARLO office yesterday. She said she had purchased the plot in 1989 without knowing it was state-owned.

Agriculture Minister General Chatchai Sarikalya will preside over a ceremony tomorrow during which announcements declaring the reclamation of the first 600-rai plot in Tambon Rareung would be put up, the ARLO secretary-general, Sansern Ajjutamanas, said yesterday.

Some 130 plots owned by the ARLO, covering 111,074.87 rai, has being encroached upon in this Northeastern province – the highest detected so far.

Sansern said ARLO has identified 125 plots nationwide, each covering over 500 rai, which have not yet undergone the land-reform process. Hence, he said, announcements and maps would be sent to the ARLO offices so they can proceed accordingly.

Chamnan Klinchan, an official from the Nakhon Ratchasima ARLO Office, explained that these announcements would be displayed at the district office, the kamnan office, the village headman’s office and the Tambon Administrative Organisation’s office.

Once the signs are put on display, the land occupants will have 15 days to submit their land-rights documents and the officials will take up to 30 days to examine these documents. If it is found that these plots are being illegally occupied, then the officials will reclaim them to distribute among farmers, he added.

Meanwhile, Chamnan said the 600-rai in Tambon Rareung had been bought by an investor who has reportedly refused to cooperate so far. He said the operation tomorrow would be in line with Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s recent order to exercise absolute power under the interim charter’s Article 44 to resolve the problem of improper land ownership.

In a related development, Watcharin Wakamanont, who heads the Kanchanaburi ARLO branch, was handed over the 1,263-rai plot of land from Land and Houses founder Piangjai. She said she had bought this land in 1989 as part of a 3,000-rai parcel for a total of Bt36 million. She also insisted that she did not know this land was state-owned and claimed that some people had cheated her of some parts of this land until she only had 1,236 rai left.

Watcharin also led a team of related officials and members of the media earlier yesterday to inspect a 900-rai plot in Sai Yok district that was allegedly encroached upon by an association. This association is believed to have conspired with a local resident to sell the land to the controversial Tiger Temple.

The team included members of the Treasury Department’s Kanchanaburi branch office who wanted to inspect a 450-rai state-owned plot nearby that was allegedly encroached upon by another individual.

According to the agriculture minister’s announcement setting the criteria and method for the provincial ARLO offices, the land-rights documents of allegedly encroached upon land would be examined based on three points.

The first point is the land-rights documents that will be accepted for submission. They include the Chanot or Nor Sor 4 Jor land-title deed; the Nor Sor 3, Nor Sor 3 Kor or Nor Sor 3 Khor titles that confirm land use (still pending approval to become Chanot); the Sor Kor Neung for possession; the Nor Sor Song consent letter issued by the land department for the temporary use of land; and a Nor Kor 3 certificate issued only for members of a self-help settlement.

The second is the examination criteria to determine real existence and location of land cited in the occupant’s document.

The third point is the examination method, which would see the occupant’s document being compared with the original copy held at the respective land office or the agency that issued it.