A House committee has found that the title deed for a large plot of mountainous land on Koh Samui held by the son of Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban was not issued legally, the panel's chairman said yesterday.
He said Somnit Phetsang, the land official who conducted the survey on the piece of land before the title deed was issued, had admitted to the panel yesterday that extra land was incorrectly added to the original plot.
The panel was conducting an inquiry into land held by Tan Thaugsuban on Khao Phaeng, a mountain on Samui. The opposition also raised the matter against Suthep in the recent censure debate.
Prakiat said the panel would summon the governor of Surat Thani province to its next meeting on August 26 to ask about progress made by local authorities probing the matter.
The secretary-general of the National Anti-Corruption Commission and Somnit's supervisor at the local land office, Charoen Chanpan, would also be summoned to testify before the committee.
Prakiat said the panel would make its findings available to relevant agencies for further action within 45 days of completing its probe.
During yesterday's hearing by the committee, Somnit said that on the day of the land survey he met Tan's representative Banjerd Laopiyasakul, who took him to the site. He found that an extra 24 rai (3.8 hectares) of land had been added to the original title document. He reported the inconsistency to his supervisor Charoen, who later went to the area himself and removed about 12 rai from the final title deed.
Yuthapong Charassathien, the House panel's secretary, who is also in the Pheu Thai Party, said the committee's initial conclusion was that legal action should be taken against Somnit, Charoen, and businessman Samart Ruangsri, who was suspected to hoarding land as part of this "scandal".
Yuthapong said the panel would wait for other documents from the Land Department, expected at the next meeting, before concluding whether Tan and Banjerd committed wrongdoing in the matter.
Somnit was bombarded with questions from panel members during yesterday's meeting, particularly from Yuthapong and Prakiat. He and Yuthapong also had brief exchanges after some pressing questions as emotions rose during his more than two hours of testimony.
At one point, Somnit was heard saying: "I answered what I can remember. This matter has given me a lot of headaches and I am thinking about quitting my job."