# Phuket Model adds 40-plus more sites; ministry proposes Nui Beach forest status > Natural Resources Minister Suchart Chomklin is widening the Phuket Model sweep from eight sites to more than forty across the island, and has ordered a recreational-forest proposal for Nui Beach. Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suchart Chomklin said the "Phuket Model" land-encroachment sweep is extending beyond the eight sites Houseviser [reported on August 6](/news/phuket-model-eight-site-land-sweep) to **40 or more additional locations across the island**, and that he has told the Forestry Department to prepare a **"recreational forest" (ป่านันทนาการ)** proposal for the reclaimed land at Nui Beach. Two separately written Thai outlets carry near-identical figures for this: [Daily News](https://www.dailynews.co.th/news/6084126/) and [TopNews](https://www.topnews.co.th/news/1653316), both reporting the announcement on or about **August 5–6, 2026**. In a separate report, [TopNews](https://www.topnews.co.th/news/1653226) has the minister saying he will not be deterred by influential figures or by capital that breaks the law. Daily News does not carry those words. No ministry release for the announcement has appeared. ## What happened The first eight sites were swept on August 3–5. On August 5 both outlets reported the minister describing the next phase as a carpet check of forty or more locations across the island, on top of those eight rather than in place of them. The sites themselves went unnamed. At Nui Beach the minister has told the Forestry Department to prepare a recreational-forest proposal — a Royal Forest Department land-use category applied within existing National Reserved Forest land, separate from the demolition and eviction orders that hit the same site in [July](/news/phuket-nui-beach-forest-demolition). Both outlets call it an instruction to prepare a proposal, not a signed designation. TopNews adds that the campaign will not stop for influential figures or for capital that breaks the law. ## Confirmed figures and source dates - **40-plus additional sites:** reported by [Daily News](https://www.dailynews.co.th/news/6084126/) and [TopNews](https://www.topnews.co.th/news/1653316), both dated August 5, 2026, as sites beyond the eight covered on August 3–5. Neither gives their locations. - **Nui Beach recreational-forest proposal:** reported by the same two outlets around the same date, describing an instruction to the Forestry Department to prepare a proposal, not a completed designation. - **The remark about influence and capital:** [TopNews](https://www.topnews.co.th/news/1653226) only; Daily News does not report it. - No source reviewed gives a completion date for the wider sweep, a list of the additional target areas, or a timeline for the recreational-forest paperwork. ## Who is affected Owners and occupants across the island whose land sits on a hillside, along a forest boundary, or inside the reserved estate. The sweep is described as island-wide rather than tied to named subdistricts, and no site, landholder, or company has been named so far. At Nui Beach, a recreational-forest designation would close off any move to regularize or redevelop the reclaimed land. ## What it may mean for Phuket property **Houseviser analysis.** The enforcement power in play at Nui Beach (Section 25 of the National Reserved Forest Act) lets officials order occupants to vacate and lets the Forestry Department demolish or remove encroaching structures on land that is already classified as state reserved forest — it does not itself transfer title or create a new protected category. A recreational-forest designation, if the proposal is adopted, would be an additional administrative step: a Royal Forest Department land-use category for public recreation and conservation use on that already-state land, reserving it for public recreation and conservation. For now it is an intention, not a signed order. Extending the sweep to 40-plus additional sites, if the figure holds up, would extend the geography of the enforcement risk Houseviser has tracked at [Nui Beach](/news/phuket-nui-beach-forest-demolition), [Freedom Beach](/news/phuket-freedom-beach-demolition-order) and the [eight-site sweep](/news/phuket-model-eight-site-land-sweep) well beyond the specific hills and beaches named so far. For an owner or buyer, this does not change the substance of the risk already flagged in Houseviser's due-diligence guidance — a title's history matters more than its current paperwork — but it signals the campaign's stated scope is growing, not winding down. See our guides to the [[due-diligence-checklist-thailand|Thailand property due-diligence checklist]], [[nor-sor-3-gor|Nor Sor 3 Kor titles]] and [[thai-company-property-ownership|Thai-company property ownership and nominee risk]]. ## What remains unknown Where the forty-odd sites are, nobody has said. Neither has anyone set out the procedure or the timetable that would turn the Nui Beach proposal into a designation, or confirmed that it has moved beyond the minister's instruction. The results of the wider sweep will come once it runs. This article is not legal advice.