A luxury resort atop a Sattahip hill was closed for encroaching on public land.
The Star Over Sea Resort in Samae San had six villas each with their own swimming pool and a room rate of 15,000 baht a night. Somehow, right under the noses of the navy and Samae San Subdistrict, the resort was built and began operating with no construction permits or business license.
Only when the public began complaining about the illegal resort on social media did local and military officials suddenly discover Star Over Sea’s existence and reacted.
Vice Adm. Sutin Laicharoen, commander of Sattahip Naval Base, and Akaraset Ruksakulsongsai, Samae San deputy mayor, and Sattahip police chief Pol. Col. Panya Dumlek, led the legion of local and district bureaucrats to the resort March 10.
When the caretaker couldn’t produce any of the required documents to prove Star Over Sea’s legal standing, the navy closed the resort pending full investigation.
Most of Samae San Subdistrict is owned by the government and managed by the navy. Clear jurisdiction over the entire subdistrict, however, has been murky since the reign of King Rama IV, who issued the edict that the harbor area should be run by the navy.
Therefore, it’s nearly impossible for any private citizen to own land there. So the resort, offering a 360-degree view of Sattahip Bay, clearly was illegal.
There was plenty of speculation on how such an expensive resort could have been built and opened without any influential people in government and the military knowing.
