Opposition tells PM to return Alpine land plot to temple

Opposition MPs demanded today that Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and the Shinawatra family return the 148-hectare plot of land, in Khlong Luang district of Pathum Thani, to Thammikaram Temple, claiming that the land is for religious use and is not legally transferrable.

The land is now owned by the Alpine Golf and Sports Club Company, which is majority owned by the prime minister and her mother, Khunying Potjaman Na Pombejra. The land was bought by Khunying Potjaman from the Alpine Real Estate and Alpine Golf and Sports Club for about 500 million baht.

One of the major shareholders of the two companies was Uraiwan Thienthong, whose husband Sanoh was then the deputy interior minister in charge of the Land Department.

The land was originally owned by Noem Chamnanchartsakda, who donated it to the temple in Pathum Thani in 1969. The land was sold by the Mahamakut Foundation, on behalf of the temple, to Alpine Real Estate and Alpine Golf and Sports Club for about 130 million baht in 1990.

During the censure debate today, People’s Party MP Chulapong Yukate accused the prime minister of conspiring with her family to use political influence to prevent the land from being returned to the temple.

He said that both the Council of State and the Supreme Court have ruled that religious land cannot not be transferred.

The Alpine land controversy has dragged on until today, when the Bhumjaithai party, one of the coalition partners, used it as a bargaining chip for the Chidchob family, the de facto leaders of the Bhumjaithai party.

Chulapong claims that the Shinawatra family is now demanding about 7 billion baht compensation from the state, if the Alpine land is to be returned to the temple.

Most of the land, which has been transformed into a housing estate and golf course, has been sold to private individuals, most of whom purchased the houses without knowing that it is located on land assigned for religious purposes.