An advisory committee to the agriculture minister has expanded its investigation into land encroachment in Pak Chong district, near Khao Yai National Park, in Nakhon Ratchasima.
The area under consideration includes the Rancho Charnvee Resort and Country Club, the golf course owned by the family of Anutin Charnvirakul, the Bhumjaithai Party leader and interior minister.
Thanadol Suwannarit, an adviser to the agriculture minister, said on Wednesday that the team had inspected three sites in the district on Tuesday.
They found the first site where the Art Tree Cafe Khao Yai is located must be closed because the land has been designated for farming by the Agricultural Land Reform Office (Alro), and other businesses are not permitted.
At the second site, the Toscana Valley Golf Course, the land was found to be legally owned. However, the site occupied about 2,000 rai near Khao Yai National Park.
Initial findings indicate the land title deed was issued from Nor Kor 3 land ownership papers for people living in the Lam Takhong self-help settlement area. The next step is to inspect whether the deed was correctly issued, as the area in question has been declared a land reform area by Alro, Mr Thanadol said.
The committee also visited Rancho Charnvee Resort and Country Club.
Mr Thanadol said the land was obtained legally with a title deed, but he must check the timeline of its issuance to confirm whether it was issued legally and whether some part of the land is located in the Alro land reform area.
"This is not related to politics. We are performing a preliminary inspection to see if there was a purchase and sale of land made with a legal title deed," he said.
"However, according to the land reform area map, the golf course is found to be in the Sor Por Kor area by Alro, so the validity of the title deed must be checked."
All inspection results will be submitted to the committee chaired by the Alro secretary-general to consider. The team will inspect three more well-known sites soon.
Polapee Suwanchwee, a Bhumjaithai MP for Nakhon Ratchasima, said Mr Thanadol's investigation may affect the investment value of Pak Chong. He said Mr Thanadol keeps looking for flaws, which would worry any investor.
"I question whether what Mr Thanadol is doing aligns with his duties ... it was plainly political harassment, beginning with distributing false information to discredit others."