Ex-senator’s 3rd plea: Return 924 rai in Pathum Thani to temple
Despite three open letters from the former senator, no action has been taken to revoke the ownership of Alpine Golf Club and Ratchathani housing estate
Former senator Somchai Swangkarn once again called on Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra to have a 924-rai plot of land in Pathum Thani given to a temple as originally intended.
Somchai’s open letter sent to the premier on Monday is the third such letter he has written to her, but nothing has happened.
In his third letter, the former senator called on the PM to tell the ministers in charge of the Land Department, the Interior Ministry and the National Office of Buddhism to take action to revoke ownership of the Alpine Golf Club and the Ratchathani housing estate. He said this way the 924 rai can be returned to Wat Thammikaram.
Somchai noted that the original owner of the land, Nuam Chamnarnsakda, had donated the plot to Wat Thammikaram, so it should belong to the temple in line with the Sangha Act BE 2505 (1962) and should not be sold to anyone.
He also noted in his letter that the Council of State had concluded that the plot should be regarded as the temple’s property in line with Nuam’s will.
As a result, the selling of the plot to Alpine Real Estate Co Ltd and Alpine Golf and Sport Club Co Ltd should be regarded as null and void from the very start. This should also nullify the transfer of ownership.
The two companies bought the land from the temple in Prachuap Khiri Khan’s Muang district in 1990 for 130 million baht and turned it into a golf course.
The golf course was sold in 1997 to Potjaman Na Pombejra, Paetongtarn’s mother and then-wife of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, for 500 million baht.
This sale sparked a controversy, and following an investigation by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), Yongyuth Wichaidit, then-Interior permanent secretary, who allegedly made the sale possible, was sentenced to two years in jail in 2012.
However, despite the ruling against Yongyuth, the land ownership has never been revoked.
