The White Sharks taskforce yesterday seized almost 100 rai (16 hectares) of mangrove in Krabi province after it found fresh land encroachment despite efforts to stop the illegal action.

The government has initiated a new forest-protection operations centre to crack down on encroachment and exploitation. New director Athapol Charoenshunsa, who heads the Royal Forestry Department (RFD)’s Forest Protection and Fire Control Bureau, tells The Sunday Nation’s Piyaporn Wongruang why the new agency is desperately needed.