Riverbank Encroachment, Property Ownership, and Public Road Claims
Fifty years prior to the present, Mr. Thit Chai established a structure directly adjacent to the riverbank. This structure subsequently transformed into a [PROPERTY DESCRIPTION].
174 Mr. Somsak, who had not yet registered the aforementioned encroachment, fifty years later, Mr. Suang used his land to provide a passage to the Subdistrict Administration, without registration. Following this, after six years, the Official Receiver executed a sale of the aforementioned property to Ms. Somsri, as ordered by the Court, and registered as follows: Ms. Somsri will sue Mr. Suang for eviction from the land and the closure of the passage, as much as possible.
The fact that Mr. Suang occupied the riverside land, regardless of how long he had occupied it, did not confer ownership. However, the riverside land had changed its status from land with a registered deed belonging to Mr. Somsak, and the encroachment became the property of Mr. Somsak.
Mr. Suang’s peaceful and open possession of the land resulted in a claim under Sections 1308 of the Thai Commercial Code, and he thereby acquired a right to the encroachment. However, Mr. Suang’s right could not be raised as a defense against Ms. Somsri, who was an external party, under Section 1382 of the Thai Commercial Code, a person who obtained rights through compensation honestly and registered the rights according to the Civil and Commercial Code, Section 1299.
Ms. Somsri therefore sued Mr. Suang for eviction. However, the passage that Mr. Somsak had dedicated for use by the Subdistrict Administration as a public road constituted a waiver of land to become public property for the benefit of the citizens, under Section 1304(2) of the Thai Commercial Code, which did not require registration with the officials and was therefore complete according to law, even though Ms. Somsri purchased the land honestly from the seller. Since the passage was public property of the state, Ms. Somsri had no right to close it.
Mr. Nueang and Ms. Nongchue, having reached adulthood, fled and lived together.