Palang Pracharath MP Pareena to be hit with four charges for alleged forestland encroachment
Four charges would be slapped on Ratchaburi member of Parliament Pareena Kraikup of the Palang Pracharath Party for allegedly encroaching on the national reserve forest in Ratchaburi province, the chief of police of the Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Division (NRECD) said on Monday.
The land encroachment allegation against Pareena made national headlines in February when the Royal Forest Department (RFD) filed charges against her after months of investigation revealed that her Khao Son 2 chicken farm in Rangbua subdistrict of Jombeung district allegedly encroached on 711 rai, 2 ngarn and 93 square wah (approximately 115 hectares) of protected forestland.
The four charges to be filed are: trespassing on national reserved forestland; residing, constructing or making profit off national reserved forestland; defacing or destroying state-owned lands without permission from officials; extracting underground water without permission from officials, Pol Maj-General Phithak Uthaitham, the NRECD chief, said on Monday.
The maximum punishment for these charges is 4-20 years imprisonment and Bt200,000 to Bt2 million fine.
“On November 23, the NRECD would also summon Pareena’s father, Thawee, to acknowledge complaints filed against him of allegedly encroaching on more than 1,000 rai of national forestland in Ratchaburi’s Suan Pheung district,” added Phitak.
Thawee Kraikup was a seven-time Ratchaburi MP, and the deputy transport minister in the Chuan Leekpai government in 1992.