All illegal structures in national parks to be targeted
After the demolition of three private houses that were illegally built in Prachin Buri province's Tab Lan National Park, the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNP) has ordered its officials to look for illegal structures in other nat
A team of about 100 officials, led by DNP director-general Damrong Pidej, tore down the houses in Tab Lan yesterday. Two of the houses were located in tambon Udomsab in Nakhon Ratchasima's Wang Nam Kheow district, while the third was in tambon Bubhram in Prachin Buri's Na Di district.
The court had issued a demolition order since 2000, but this is the first time that the DNP has taken action. Owners of the homes face between Bt4,000 and Bt75,000 in fines in addition to two years in prison.
Damrong said his officials were now taking legal action against the owners of another 50 resorts and private homes believed to be illegally built in the Tab Lan National Park area. The court has given the authorities until December to remove all illegal structures in national parks.
"If the laws were strictly enforced, these houses would never have been built," Damrong said, adding that some resort owners had contacted him and begged to be allowed to stay on.
The DNP chief said he had set up a special task force to conduct another round of investigations and see if those living in the area had ownership papers dating back to before June 30, 1998, when the Cabinet designated the areas as national park.
Meanwhile, security and forest officials in Yala confirmed that 836,000-rai of the Sirikit forest reserve, originally known as the Hala-Bala forest, had been emptied to make way for agarwood trees, the resin of which is used to make incense.
The officials will visit the forest reserve today to verify the report and estimate the scale of the encroachment because the only evidence available are aerial photographs published in newspapers.
