The Land Department is urging land owners with Sor Kor 1 (S.K. 1) titles to upgrade their lands to  Nor. Sor. 4 Jor (N.S. 4 J.) or Chanote title deeds before Feb. 23 next year. Anuwat Maetheeviboonvut, chief of Land Department on Samui, said lands not classified under Chanote title deeds would revert back to public domain.

Anuwat said the upgrading process has been goiing on since February 2006.

He urged people people who possess the Sor Kor 1 land title deeds to show to present these titles at the Land Department on Samui so they could be upgraded to Sor Kor 1 to Nor. Sor. 4 Jor (N.S. 4 J.

The department said there about 4,000 plots of land on the island still registered under the Sor Kor 1 land title deeds.

Each of these lands cover an area of  about 5-10 rai.  If these lands are not reclassified as Chanote after the deadline, the government the owners of these lands as dead, missing or have moved out of the line.

These lands would then revert back to the Treasury Department as public lands for disposition in the future.

The process of upgrading these land titles are done meticulously to ferret out fake land claims, Anuwat said.

Sor Kor 1 (S.K. 1) is a notification form of land possession. This document entitles the holder to occupy and utilize the S.K. 1 land, which can also be sold or transferred to another by inheritance.

Depending on the land’s location, this document may be upgraded to Nor. Sor. 3, Nor. Sor. 3 Gor or Nor. Sor. 4 (Chanote). Sor. Kor. 1 has never been issued since 1972.
A Nor. Sor. 4 Jor (N.S. 4 J.) or Chanote title  is the only document that really confirms  ownership of the land. The land is accurately surveyed and its area and boundaries are determined with the use of GPS.  With the Chanote title, it is possible to partition the land into smaller plots.