Six operational teams from multiple agencies spent August 3-5, 2026 checking land-ownership documents at eight sites across the island and inspecting a restaurant row at Paradise Beach for suspected nominee ownership, under an operation the province opened on August 3 as “ทวงคืนผืนป่าภูเก็ต” (Reclaim Phuket’s Forest) and the government is branding the “Phuket Model.” The launch is documented in a 3 August 2569 (2026) release from the Phuket regional office of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. The MNRE release ties the sweep directly to a July 20, 2026 order from Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suchart Chomklin directing the Forestry Department to investigate suspected encroachment on state, forest and mountain land. Separately, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul ordered agencies on July 30, 2026 to “X-ray every square inch” (เอ็กซเรย์ทุกตารางนิ้ว) of Phuket and extend the same approach nationwide, according to Thai Rath, TopNews, Dailynews and Thai Post, all dated July 30.
What happened
Officials opened the operation on August 3 at the Phuket Office of Natural Resources and Environment, with Royal Forest Department deputy director-general Phatpong Samittipat presiding over the launch, according to the MNRE Phuket release. TopNews separately reports that Phuket Deputy Governor Pol. Capt. Khettarat Chansilp took part. The MNRE release names the eight target areas as Khao Ta Kliang, Khao Muang, Khuan Tham Ta-in, Khao Daeng, Khao Mai Son, Khuan Na Ta Lae, Paradise Beach and Kalim Beach. khaophuket.com and realnewsthailand.net report that the three-day inspection also checked a cluster of Paradise Beach restaurants for suspected use of Thai nominee shareholders.
Bangkok Post, reporting in English on August 4, separately reports the scale and dates: more than 160 officials were deployed from August 3-5 to inspect eight locations described as being in Thep Krasattri and Choeng Thale in Thalang district, and in Sri Sunthorn, Rawai, Kamala and Patong. Bangkok Post attributes the operation to a Royal Forestry Department tip from the Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc) about suspected encroachment at the eight sites, quoting RFD deputy director-general Phatpong Samittipat. The Thai-language site names and the Bangkok Post subdistricts describe the same eight-location, three-day operation, though no source maps each hill or beach to a subdistrict, so both lists appear here as published. TopNews reports its Rawai findings, below, by moo (village) number, which matches neither list.
The Rawai result: one site cleared, one flagged
Of the results reported so far, the most concrete come from Rawai subdistrict. TopNews reports that at one site, in Moo 2, officials checked coordinates and documents and found a lawful Chanote held by a private company, with a building permit already issued by Rawai Municipality — no encroachment on public or forest land. At a second site, in Moo 1, on public land documented by an N.S.L. certificate, officials reported suspected encroachment involving one house and a sign asserting private ownership; Rawai Municipality filed a criminal complaint with investigators at Chalong police station.
The Moo 1 account is an official allegation and a filed complaint, not a conviction. No source names the occupant, and No arrest, charge under a specific statute, or court date has been reported. The available reports do not establish how the two Rawai locations relate to the eight named hills and beaches, so no remainder can be inferred from them.
Confirmed figures and source dates
- Immediate order: Minister Suchart Chomklin directed the Forestry Department on July 20, 2026 to investigate suspected encroachment on state, forest and mountain land in Phuket, per the MNRE Phuket release.
- Nationwide-expansion order: PM Anutin Charnvirakul separately directed agencies on July 30, 2026 to check state-land use, improperly issued title documents, nominee land-holding, and illegal use of state land in Phuket under the “Phuket Model,” before expanding the approach nationwide — per Thai Rath, TopNews, Dailynews and Thai Post, all dated July 30.
- Operation: Launched August 3, 2026 at the Phuket Office of Natural Resources and Environment, per the MNRE Phuket release, dated 3 August 2569; ran through August 5. Six teams, more than 160 officials (Bangkok Post), eight sites.
- Sites named in Thai secondary reporting: Khao Ta Kliang, Khao Muang, Khuan Tham Ta-in, Khao Daeng, Khao Mai Son, Khuan Na Ta Lae, Paradise Beach, Kalim Beach.
- Subdistricts named by Bangkok Post: Thep Krasattri and Choeng Thale (Thalang district), Sri Sunthorn, Rawai, Kamala, Patong.
- Rawai result: one site (Moo 2) cleared — a lawful Chanote and permitted construction; at another site (Moo 1), officials reported suspected encroachment on N.S.L.-documented public land involving one house and a private-property sign, and Rawai Municipality filed a criminal complaint, per TopNews.
- Focus: land-title legitimacy against encroachment at the hillside sites; suspected nominee shareholding at a restaurant row on Paradise Beach.
Verified sourcing. The MNRE Phuket release dated August 3 documents the launch, participating agencies and eight named target areas. Bangkok Post reported on August 4 that more than 160 officials were assigned to the August 3-5 inspections, while TopNews reported the two Rawai findings. None of these sources maps the Rawai locations to the eight named target areas.
Who is affected
Directly: whoever holds or occupies land at the eight named hillside and beachfront sites in Thalang, Sri Sunthorn, Rawai, Kamala and Patong, and the operators of the inspected Paradise Beach restaurants. No source names the private company cleared at the Rawai Moo 2 site, the occupant of the Rawai Moo 1 site, or any landholder, company, or restaurant operator at the named target areas. Beyond the municipal complaint at Moo 1, none of the reports describes a demolition order, a revoked title, or a criminal charge arising from this operation. More broadly, the PM’s stated intent to extend the “Phuket Model” nationwide means owners elsewhere in Thailand may see a similar document-legitimacy sweep in their area.
What it may mean for Phuket property
Houseviser analysis. Across most of the island this operation is narrower than a demolition order or a criminal case — it is a title-document and business-structure check, not yet a finding against anyone. The Rawai reporting shows two different land statuses: a lawful Chanote that passed verification, and alleged occupation of N.S.L.-documented public land that prompted a municipal complaint. Its relevance sits in the pattern it confirms and extends: the enforcement drive Houseviser has tracked through the Nui Beach, Freedom Beach and Sirinat National Park cases now has an explicit name, an explicit prime-ministerial mandate, and an explicit template for exporting itself beyond Phuket. For an owner or buyer, the practical takeaway is unchanged in kind but wider in scope: title history on hillside and reserved-forest-adjacent land remains a real, currently-enforced risk category, and a Thai-registered restaurant or villa-rental business is a plausible subject of a nominee-shareholding check, not only a resort-scale hotel. See our guides to the Thailand property due-diligence checklist, Nor Sor 3 Kor titles and Thai-company property ownership and nominee risk.
What remains unknown
- The outcome of the inspections at the named target areas not covered by the Rawai findings, and whether the Paradise Beach restaurants showed evidence of nominee shareholding.
- Whether any charge follows the Rawai Moo 1 municipal complaint, and the identity of the occupant named in it.
- The identity of the private company cleared at the Rawai Moo 2 site.
- How TopNews’s Moo 1 and Moo 2 site descriptions in Rawai relate to the eight named hills and beaches reported by khaophuket.com and realnewsthailand.net, and how either list maps onto Bangkok Post’s subdistrict names — No source reconciles the three site-naming schemes with one another.
- The identity of any landholder, company, or restaurant operator at the named target areas.
- Whether the “Phuket Model” has been formally extended to any other province yet, beyond the Prime Minister’s stated intent to do so.
This article is not legal advice.