PHUKET, Thailand – Thailand’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has ordered an intensified investigation and legal action over alleged land encroachment at Freedom Beach in Phuket, following claims of systematic occupation of public land, restricted beach access, and illegal fee collection from tourists.
Pol. Maj. Gen. Nuntachart Supamongkol, assistant minister attached to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, said Environment Minister Suchart Chomklin has instructed all relevant agencies to urgently inspect access routes, occupied land areas, and land ownership documents connected to the Freedom Beach area.
Authorities are also pursuing legal action against those allegedly involved in what officials describe as a long-running encroachment operation affecting forest land and public beachfront property.
The investigation involves multiple agencies, including the Agricultural Land Reform Office, Internal Security Operations Command, provincial authorities, forestry officials, and local administrative units.
According to investigators, the dispute has persisted for more than a decade and involves an allegedly sophisticated and organized land occupation scheme.
Officials said the operation reportedly began around 2015, when certain individuals initially entered the area as caretakers for the original landowner before later taking control of the land following the owner’s death. Authorities also cited previous cases involving officials accused of improperly issuing land ownership documents.
Investigators further allege that influential figures were later brought into the operation to expand territorial control and claim exclusive rights over access routes leading to the beach.
Using the area’s steep mountainous terrain, suspects allegedly blocked public access and charged tourists between 200 and 300 baht per person to enter the beach, claiming the fees were for maintenance and waste management services.
Authorities also said they discovered attempts to use fraudulent land documents inserted into official land database systems.
Earlier investigations by Phuket provincial authorities and security agencies found more than 57 rai of encroached land inside the Khao Nak Kerd National Forest Reserve, leading to 23 separate legal cases filed under Thailand’s Forest Act and National Reserved Forest Act.
Pol. Maj. Gen. Nuntachart said the ministry would not allow forest land and public beaches to be illegally occupied for private benefit and vowed to accelerate prosecutions against those responsible.
He added that officials are coordinating closely with investigators to strengthen legal cases and ensure offenders are brought before the justice system as quickly as possible.
Authorities insist the operation is part of a broader effort to reclaim public forest areas and beaches from illegal occupation and return national resources to public use. (TNA)
