Phuket builder says trail course site also included shooting range

A builder has said a site in Kathu, Phuket, where a trail-running course was constructed also contained a shooting range on the same plot, following allegations that the area involved encroachment on national reserved forest.

Apichat, known as Chang Ae, made the statement on 31 October 2026 after Chaiwat Limlikitaksorn, a former head of Kaeng Krachan National Park, published images and information about the site. Chaiwat said the area had been developed as a trail-running course and included a shooting range.

Chang Ae said the land, to his knowledge, belonged to Got, the husband of Bum Panadda. He said Got showed him a Por Bor Tor 5 land document and explained its background, leading him to trust Got and carry out the construction work. Chang Ae said he acted only on Got’s instructions and that the intended use was for public exercise and for Got to exercise with friends. Got was later subject to legal action on forest-encroachment charges, according to Chang Ae’s account.

Chang Ae also addressed documents submitted to the Mai Khao Subdistrict Administrative Organisation for permission to build a pool villa. He said the file included a power of attorney and other documents bearing Bum Panadda’s signatures certifying copies as correct. He referred questions about the documents to lawyer Decha, saying the evidence was now with the lawyer and that Decha should explain whether any documents had been forged.

Regarding a video that lawyer Decha previously described as showing a particular form of signing, Chang Ae said it concerned a private matter inside Got’s household and that he did not want to implicate others. He said Got should explain the issue himself.

Chang Ae said photographs showed him dining with Bum Panadda at a restaurant in Thalang in May 2025, when she was visiting Phuket. He said she also visited the pool villa while it was under construction, stood on a house beam and took a photograph with Got while Chang Ae stood nearby. He said he had that photograph but had not released it, and that Bum later visited the construction site twice more without him.

Chang Ae returned to Phuket to collect documents and evidence for delivery to lawyer Decha. He said he wanted Got to clarify all the issues and speak with him directly, but Got had not answered his calls.

Separately, Chang Ae denied lawyer Tum’s allegation that he had undertaken construction at the Good Organisation Foundation in Pathum Thani. He said he had only been invited to prepare quotations for a kitchen building, a shrine and other structures, and was ultimately not hired. He challenged Tum to produce evidence that he had carried out the work.