Sereepisuth targets Thai PM over Khao Kradong dispute

Seri Ruam Thai party leader and the sole MP of the party, Sereepisuth Temeeyaves, is seeking the the signatures of at least 50 fellow opposition MPs to second his motion to the Constitutional Court, via the House speaker, seeking the removal from office of Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and the Digital Economy and Society Minister Chaichanok Chidchob.

The former national police chief is accusing Anutin and Chaichanok of a failure to take action to reclaim a large tract of land at Khao Kradong in Buri Ram province, which belongs to the State Railway of Thailand (SRT), from the Chidchob family.

He claims that had has approached Democrat party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva and the Thai Ruam Palang party to seek support for his motion and will also approach the People’s party and the Kla Tham party, adding that he is unsure whether he will receive their support.

Sereepisuth said that, besides the Khao Kradong case, he has gathered evidence about the government’s use of taxpayers’ money to fund the Motor GP Championship, held in Buri Ram province since 2018 under the pretext of tourism promotion, adding that the Anutin administration has recently approved a four billion baht budget for the Ministry of Tourism and Sports to hold the motorcycle race.

At this stage, he said he will concentrate on the Khao Kradong land scandal and will leave the other controversial issues for the next move.

He noted there has been no progress in the SRT reclaiming the land from the Chidchob family, despite the fact that the Supreme Court has ruled that the land rightfully belongs to the SRT and the Supreme Administrative Court has revoked the land title deeds for the disputed land.

He pointed out that the Land Department is under the supervision of the Interior Ministry, while the SRT is under the Transport Minister and both ministries have, for several years, been controlled by the Bhumjaithai party.

In the next step, he said he will travel to Buri Ram province to file a complaint with the police there against the Chidchob family for alleged encroachment on SRT land at Khao Kradong.

Khao Kradong covers a total of 813.28 hectares of land belonging to the SRT, as mandated by a Royal decree. The Chidchob family is reported to have occupied 28.48 hectares, which has been transformed into ‘Chang Area’ and ‘Chang International Circuit’.