Use of technology in the state-run land and forestry management is important in preventing illegal acquisition of land and solving ownership problems, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva told a seminar yesterday.
Apart from social and environmental problems, an effective management of the database is crucial to coping with growing demands for farmland and limited natural resources, he added.
Abhisit said that he, along with Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti, had agreed upon further developing the ministry's database system carrying land and forest details, and integrating it with data on state-owned land handled by the Finance Ministry's Treasury Depart-ment.
The ministry is developing a system that includes all the data available on land plots, forests and state-owned land. The system will cost Bt2.25 billion and should be completed by 2012. After completion, the public will be able to access the information and trace land records back to 1952 as well as follow the changes to forest conditions since then.
"It will be as easy as using Google," Suwit said. "It can tell how many rai of different kinds of land there are in Thailand, and which areas are located inside or outside forestry areas."
With this database in place, land-ownership disputes between villagers and land offices in the last decade can be sorted out within a year. The database can also be used against corrupt land or forestry officials who have worked in favour of those who bribed them.