Deed amendment brings end to Khon Kaen temple land dispute

Title registered in name of Wat Pa Adulyaram after years of challenges by heirs of land donor

KHON KAEN - Land officials in Khon Kaen have amended details on a title deed to recognise Wat Pa Adulyaram as the rightful holder, resolving a bitter dispute with the heirs of the man who donated the land more than three decades ago.

Lawyer Ananchai Chaiyadet, chairman of the Dhamma Army Foundation, on Wednesday led members of the foundation’s legal team to meet Phra Kru Adulyasananithet, the abbot of the forest temple in Muang district.

The team briefed the abbot on legal procedures before accompanying him to the Khon Kaen office of the Department of Lands to attend a scheduled meeting with land officials.

They were joined there by legal expert Thongthong Chandrangsu, representatives of the National Office of Buddhism, as well as monks and other officials. Media representatives were not allowed to enter the meeting room.

After the change was formally signed and stamped, media were invited into the room. The deed was then handed to the abbot in the presence of media representatives, the temple’s devotees and committee members, and members of the public.

The deed for the land on which the temple was built had originally listed former village headman Hiang Phimsri as the registered owner. It was his wish that the land be used to build a temple.

Phra Kru Adulyasananithet said earlier that the 21-rai site was formally donated in 1990 in front of local residents, with photographs and copies of the title deed kept as evidence. Hiang died the following year.

Permission to build was sought in 1992 and the complex was officially registered as a temple in 1998.

In litigation dating back to 2004, the temple had previously won cases at every court level, but Hiang’s heirs continued to pursue the matter, applying for a replacement deed on July 27 this year.  The 72-year-old abbot lodged an objection to the application, and asked to have the property where Wat Pa Adulyaram stands registered in the temple’s name.

The heirs were represented by Chommanee Noichan, who runs a real estate business in Bangkok with her husband. Her mother was a sister of Hiang’s wife.

The dispute escalated on Aug 10 when vehicles and construction materials were brought in to block access to the temple. Ms Chommanee and several others were subsequently charged with trespassing.   

Phra Kru Adulyasananithet shows the land title deed for Wat Pa Adulyaram to reporters at the Khon Kaen office of the Department of Lands on Wednesday. (Photo: Chakkrapan Natanri)