National Parks are under attack - we must defend them

EDITORIAL
National parks are under attack - we must defend them
By The Nation
Published on July 29, 2011

Authorities must give the public answers over what happened in the forest reserves of Prachin Buri, Saraburi and Nakhon Ratchsima provinces. The violators should also be brought to light in order to send a message that society will not tolerate the exploitation of our preserved wilderness areas.

It is a mystery as to why so many resorts have mushroomed in the forest reserves over the past few years under the noses of officials. After all, the construction of these luxury properties would have required many rounds of transportation and gangs of construction workers commuting into the area.

Now that the scandal has made it into the headlines, the issue should not be allowed to disappear without clear explanations given to the public.

This land-grab story is important because it involves authorities' abuse of power, illegal encroachment and exploitation of the environment.

The Nation's latest survey of the area found that large swathes of trees have been cut down, and some sections have been prepared for large-scale construction projects.

Although high-ranking officials and politicians continue to preach the importance of conserving these National Parks, our latest fact-finding mission to Saraburi and Nakhon Ratchsima showed that huge spaces of forest reserve are being shamelessly exploited, with a large portion turned into luxury resorts.

Nation reporters visited the forested area straddling Saraburi and Nakhon Ratchsima provinces after village leaders and members of the local community complained of encroachment into their forest reserves. The villagers are concerned that such massive encroachment could have a potentially disastrous affect on the ecosystem of the mountainous area. With so many trees cut down, they say the stripped mountainous area is now vulnerable to landslides.

The local villagers have identified three types of violator: First, those illegally grabbing land in the forests; second, those encroaching on the natural park and; third, people seeking to benefit by bending the rules on what the land can be used for.

Based on the findings of The Nation's fact-finding mission, a large amount of area under the Sor Por Kor 4-01 land title deed has been transformed into a number of luxury resorts. This is despite the fact that the Sor Por Kor 4-01 area was preserved for farming and not supposed to be transferred to resort investors.

Even worse, parts of the mountainous terrain with at least a 30-degree slope that were supposed to be preserved as pristine forest to maintain the ecosystem, have also been turned into resorts. We also found uprooted trees and construction materials, which had apparently been abruptly abandoned. The culprits must have known that they were engaging in an illegal practice. They apparently left shortly before the survey team arrived.

Unfortunately, this land-grab is not an isolated case in Thailand. Every time the government grants ownership under its land-reform programme, scandals over the abuse of land titles seem to follow.

Last year, news broke of a large area at Suan Pung being turned into luxury resort despite the fact that the land title deed was supposed to be given to farmers for farming. The news made headlines for roughly a week, and then it disappeared. Nevertheless, Suan Pung is still being exploited.

As for the controversy in Saraburi and Nakhon Ratchsima, the authorities have reportedly given the violators a couple of months to dismantle their properties. The public will be watching to see whether that deadline is met.

Guarding against forest encroachment is not the sole responsibility of any individual. Instead, we have to share the responsibility to protect our resources together. It would be doubly sad if society turns a blind eye to this encroachment given that only recently, we lost soldiers whose helicopter crashed while they were on a noble mission to save the forest area in Kaeng Krachan National Park.

The sacrifices of these men should be a reminder that our National Parks belong to us all and that the national attempt to achieve land reform for the wellbeing of the majority of Thais must not be exploited.