5,000-rai Khao Kradong land dispute intensifies as SRT cites ownership
A document titled Notification of Land Possession (Sor Kor 1) No. 1180, issued by the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) and dated May 27, 1955, was made public on Monday, sparking fresh tensions over a land dispute in Buri Ram.
The record shows that an SRT representative in Lam Plai Mat district, Sawai Nimnuan, filed a claim with the Department of Lands for possession of a 5,083-rai area in Khao Kradong.
The cause of acquisition was stated simply as “royal decree”, without any date specified, and the land’s status was noted as “railway”.
Sor Kor 1, however, serves only as a declaration of possession for utilisation purposes, not as proof of ownership. This declaration was made after the Department of Lands had already announced that residents occupying and utilising land before December 14, 1954, should register their rights.
Many local residents in Khao Kradong had already lodged Sor Kor 1 notifications in 1954, prior to the SRT’s filing in 1955.
Questions have since been raised: if the SRT truly held ownership from 1919 as claimed, why did it need to file for Sor Kor 1 — a right intended by law for private citizens — and why could it not clearly specify the exact date of acquisition under the cited royal decree?
Under the law, state agencies acquire land ownership only through expropriation or purchase, with a map attached to the royal decree precisely defining the boundaries, and the decree must be published in the Royal Gazette — all three elements being required.
In the Khao Kradong case, the SRT has so far been unable to present all three elements to the investigative committee under Section 61 of the Land Code in order to obtain a ruling to revoke local residents’ land title documents.
