He said his wife had paid the municipal tax correctly since 2002. People had been allowed to use the land - regarded as degraded forest - since 1998.

Surayud said he would return the land on Khao Yai Tiang mountain if it was illegal.

"If it's wrong politically, I'm ready [to resign]. I don't stick with anything. If I should be ousted, I'm ready," he said.

Surayud said officers from the National Counter Corruption Commission (NCCC) had taken pictures of what was on the land and in the area. Any agencies that wanted to check the land should inform him, not just break into the property, as he had security officers patrolling it.

Meanwhile, acting Thai Rak Thai Party executive Veera Musigapong said the members of the Council for National Security (CNS) should declare their assets to show their sincerity.

Surayud said he acknowledged the ambiguous status of the land. He had no documentation for it, but had followed correct processes in acquiring it, including paying money to local people to use it.

He had also developed the land by growing trees until they were large and capable of yielding fruit.

He said the issue was a personal problem and had nothing to do with the government.

He would not tell Land Department officials what they should do about it, for fear that it could be construed as interference in their work. However, they should know to clarify the controversial issue soon.

Natural Resources and Environment Minister Kasem Sanidwong na Ayudhaya and Forestry Department director-general Wichai Laemwilai yesterday met Surayud at Government House.

Wichai said they did not discuss the controversy. But they did talk about the Community Forest Act, as officials had met forestry officers on Monday to gather their opinions.

He said the department had investigated the land including its coordinates, aerial photos and how Surayud acquired the property. Although the land appeared to be in a water resource area, it was not an abundant forest.

The department would investigate fairly and accurately, he said, and the results should be known next week. He refused to comment on Surayud's commitment to resign if any illegality had occurred.

The Thai-language newspaper Khao Sod yesterday published a picture showing a building near Surayud's forest home on its front page and said it was apparently

a wooden building.

The paper previously published a photo of the building and said it resembled a railway carriage.

Insinuations about how train carriages came to be on Surayud's land were allegedly leaked to the press last weekend by an aide to former prime minister General Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, who appears to have a conflict with the coup leaders. 

It led to the controversy about Surayud's possession of the forest block.

Woranaree Kosajan,

Janjira Pongrai

The Nation