The four suspects acknowledged the charge of illegal land acquisition against them and denied it, before being released on a bail of Bt600,000 each, Thawee Sodsong, deputy director-general of the Department of Special Investigation (DSI), said.

The suspects are Malaysian Gee Khiang Tang, and Thai nationals Major Nakhon Thongmee, Krajang Kheerephon, and Bunlert Kheerephon. The first two suspects arrrested last week and released on bail are Tun Tex Hui and his Thai wife Suwaphat Kheereephon, who are honorary consuls to Morocco and Djibouti, respectively.

Thawee said the entire land-grabbing case had been divided into 16 cases, three of which had been backed up by sufficient evidence against all six suspects. DSI agents, forestry and land officials are jointly compiling more evidence in the 13 remaining cases against the suspects, he said.

The DSI is also preparing to use asset-seizing laws against the six suspects while linking their alleged land-grabbing activities with a suspected loan-fraud of around Bt1 billion they had obtained from five commercial banks. The loans were raised by using illegal title deeds as collateral.

The Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCS), which is assisting the DSI in proving the cases, is also investigating how title deeds had been issued for areas stretching to beachfronts on behalf of the suspects - despite restrictions against the practice.

Land laws say deeds can be issued to cover beachfront plots located 20 metres away from where seawater reaches, according to DMCS director-general Samran Rakchart. However, local residents have had their access to even public beaches restricted after the deeds were issued to the suspects.

The investigation is also focusing on whether there has been rampant and systematic corruption by officials in various government agencies. The issuance of title deeds involved the Land Department, the Department of National Parks, the Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP), and the Royal Forestry Department (RFD).

Around 1,000 rai of land plots on forest reserves and conservation areas are owned by the suspects, according to the DSI investigation report.

Somchai Pheinsathaphorn, a deputy permanent secretary at the Natural Resource and Environment Ministry said forest reserves were supervised by RFD and the conservation areas by the DNP.

Piyanuch Thamnukasetchai,

Janjira Pongrai

The Nation