Heirs File Complaint Over Alleged Illegal Land Title Transfer to Temple
Heirs filed a complaint with police alleging that Khon Kaen Land Office officials illegally transferred family land to a temple without their consent, claiming the transfer violated the original donor's intent to use the property only for t
On September 23, 2025, at 10:00 a.m., Chommani Noyjanthorn (Aunt Da), Buakai Sarasmut, legal advisor Woredet Changbu, and the heirs of the deceased landowner filed a complaint at the Crime Suppression Division headquarters regarding the transfer of a land title to Wat Pa Adulya Ram. Woredet stated that approximately three to four officials at the Khon Kaen Land Office may have acted improperly, with other staff potentially complicit in facilitating the improper transfer. The heirs argue the land transfer is unlawful, noting that relatives and heirs never consented to or were informed of the transfer at the time it occurred.
Woredet clarified that the heirs recognize a separate plot belonging to the temple under Section 33(1) of the Land Code, but the transferred title concerns land designated under Section 33(2)—land reserved for building a temple—which should have been used only for that purpose. The heirs contend the transfer violates the original donor's intent, as the land was given specifically to construct a temple, not to transfer ownership to the temple as an institution.
Additionally, the heirs produced a 1998 document and map listing 12 structures on the temple grounds, yet upon inspection of the actual site, no such structures were found. They suspect this discrepancy may have been used fraudulently to support the temple establishment request in 1998. Woredet emphasized that the temple's initial registration may have been void, since the approval was based on information about structures that do not exist in reality. He stated the heirs have been fighting over this land for more than 20 years and are presenting new evidence and documents to investigators to establish the true facts and legality of the entire transfer process.
Aunt Da stressed that the family has been wrongly accused by society of trying to seize temple property, but she affirmed that the disputed land is inherited family property passed down from their ancestor Nan Hiang, not temple property. The family has spent decades seeking truth from various authorities regarding ownership of this land.
