The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) has filed a new lawsuit with the Buri Ram Provincial Court, in a bid to seek the eviction of occupants from nine additional land plots in the Khao Kradong area that are currently used for commercial purposes.
If the court rules in favour of the SRT, the railway agency said the land will be reclaimed and utilised to generate revenue for the state enterprise.
The SRT also clarified developments in its earlier case filed on Tuesday, seeking to revoke title deeds for plots 3466 and 8564 near the Khao Kradong intersection.
It cited the National Anti-Corruption Commission’s (NACC) decision to revoke the deeds because they overlapped SRT-owned land.
The NACC ruled that these plots overlap with railway land and instructed the Department of Lands (DoA) to revoke the deeds under Section 61 of the Land Code.
The decision was made under the NACC’s authority granted by Section 99 of the Organic Act on Anti-Corruption.
The SRT also said this case sought an order for occupants to dismantle structures and vacate the premises.
According to SRT’s statement yesterday, the new lawsuit targets both individuals and legal entities occupying large plots of land for business activities.
The nine plots involved are numbered 3477, 24091, 3476, 3742, 3743, 115572, 9160, 3285, and 30222.
The agency emphasised that these cases do not affect the general public.
It stated that these cases are strictly aimed at protecting state assets and maximising the organisation’s income through the lawful use of its property.
On March 30, 2023, the Central Administrative Court ruled that the Khao Kradong land forms part of the railway corridor and is therefore public property.
It declared the issuance of overlapping title deeds illegal and ordered DoA to revoke them.
However, as the DoA’s investigation committee chose not to act, SRT thus had no choice but to file its own lawsuit to assert its ownership rights, stressing that this was a legitimate legal process rather than a delaying tactic.
The court proceedings for these cases are expected to take around two years, with potential appeals extending the process by another year.
The verdict will likely set an important precedent for resolving the remaining 995 land disputes, according to the statement.