Lawsuit seeks new punishment system for forest encroachers
The Land Reform Network of Thailand, in cooperation with the Lawyers Council of Thailand, is pressing authorities to use a new method to calculate compensation from encroachers found cutting trees in forest reserves.
The two groups have threatened a lawsuit against the Royal Forest Department and the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) to stop them using the forested watershed valuation model.
Saengchai Rattanaseriwong of the Lawyers Council of Thailand said the model developed by DNP officials was not based on scientific evidence and could not be used to force people to pay compensation for causing global warming by cutting trees.
Under the model, more than 1,200 farmers across the country are facing legal action by the RFD and DNP for invading forest reserves and national parks. The total amount of compensation demanded by the two departments is Bt12 million.
A complication is that some areas are overlapping forest reserves and residential areas now awaiting investigation to prove ownership of the land.
Villagers who have no money to pay compensation must help the RFD and DNP plant trees in forest reserves and national parks.
"Academics from various institutes will help us review the model to calculate a fair compensation for people to pay," Saengchai said.
Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Commission has asked the directors-general of the DNP and RFD to explain the reason behind the use of this model to calculate the compensation forest encroachers must pay - but the two agencies have refused to comply.
A group of 15 representatives from the Land Reform Network protested yesterday before the RFD, demanding that it stop using the model, which they said was unfair and required a huge amount of compensation.
They also showed a model for RFD officials of building in urban areas and in forests in rural areas, to explain what they believe is the real cause of global warming.
