A fourth defendant in the case, Land Department officer Thawatchai Anukul, had died while in custody. The court also ruled that the land deed at issue was illegal, because it was clear that the Sor Kor 1 document for another piece of land had been used for registering the land deed in question. The court therefore ordered the Land Department to revoke the deed. The problematic 6-rai (one hectare) plot of land is situated on Lae Phang Beach in Phuket’s Talang district. As to the original land owner Supakorn Dechopanang, Prayvuth said the investigating officers had probed this issue in a separate case concerning an allegation of illegally encroaching onto public forestland and money laundering.

Source: The Nation Bangkok October 09, 2017 13:18 UTC