2/2550 Thailand Supreme Court Opinion 39 (No. 681) 2007
Public Prosecutor of Chon Buri Province vs. Mr. Saman Thapananon

Re: Land, Trespassing, Criminal Code

The defendant and parties prepared and leveled the land, and constructed a residential home, complete with a barbed wire fence surrounding the home, on land owned by the Treasury Department, which was under the oversight and benefit of the Navy Welfare Department, the Royal Navy. The defendant's actions violated many laws. In addition to unlawfully trespassing on land in Thailand of the Treasury Department, according to section 365 (2) of the Criminal Code, the defendant transgressed likewise in that he occupied, possessed, and leveled the land in a way that damaged and caused deterioration to government land, violating paragraph 1, 108 bis, section 9 (1) (2) of the Land Act. Paragraph 4, section 108 bis, of the Land Act, empowers the court to order the violator, workers, employees, and parties of the violator to vacate the land. The foregoing act does not serve to penalize according to section 18 of the Criminal Code, but is a measure to ensure that the government, who is the owner of the land, can take immediate possess and benefit from the land, without a need for a separate civil lawsuit to expel the violator. Therefore, even though the Court may punish the defendant according to section 365 (2) of the Criminal Code, which is a statute with the severest of penalties based on section 90 of the Criminal Code, the actions of the defendant violate paragraph 1, section 108 bis of the Land Act concurrently, hence the Court has authority to order the defendant and parties to dismantle the construction and vacate government land.