The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday to ban Palang Pracharath MP Pareena Kraikupt from politics for life over her use of land in a forest reserve in her home province of Ratchaburi.
The court said she had violated political ethics as an MP by her possession of state land.
The ruling means she cannot run for political office at any level. She is also banned from voting in any election for 10 years, the court said.
Problems surrounding Ms Pareena’s use of land in Ratchaburi came to light in November 2019, when Ruangkrai Leekitwattana, a then-member of the since dissolved Thai Raksa Chart Party, petitioned authorities to inspect the MP’s 711-rai poultry farm in Chom Bung district.
The Royal Forest Department then investigated and surveyed the land. It concluded that her farm encroached on public land. It then asked the NACC to take action against her.
The land under her control was reform land, which is allocated to landless people but remains reserved forest land.
The former MP could also face criminal charges in the same case.
