Land encroachment... (bringing a footnote to the fore)
Some weeks ago some local officials discovered that some Forestry Department land near here had been illegally sold, cleared of scrub and put under rubber - this land was theoretically in a "preservation area" which doesn't mean much except that the laws on building and land use there should be tighter than elsewhere, no actual preservation goes on in the preservation areas as far as I can see they just aren't put under native hardwood cash crops such as with other Forestry Department land.
On further investigation they have discovered that this is not the only piece of illegally cleared land, as far as I understand it (and I've been trying to get ele land and so going through the process) Preservation Area land can be legally transferred to local villagers if they can demonstrate that they are starving and homeless, this land can then only be sold within the family.
What it seems businessmen have been doing is persuading local villagers to apply for this land, clear it, plant a cash crop, of citrus, rubber or pineapples. The crop often doesn't come to fruition as the difficulties of growing non-native crops, insecticides, irrigation and inundation are not explained (to save me bending your ears once again with madcap theories see my dry season blogs on drought and water shortage.)
The local farmer goes bankrupt and is 'saved' by the businessmen who encouraged him to clear the land in the first place and gave him the 'free' rubber trees.
I'm glad to see action being taken but it doesn't actually worry me so much that this is happening to preservation area land - alright, the preservation area land would be undergoing the natural process of reforestation if left alone but hunting still takes place and the areas are too small to have much conservation value (unlike the Yonok project) and, as mentioned below, now it will be 're-forested' with an, albeit longer term, cash crop monoculture of 'teak or Malabar ironwood' instead of left alone to become native forest, the damage is done.
At least the hardwood cash crop of the Forestry Department should not require the intensive irrigation and chemical protection of non-native crops, will not contribute to our flood, water shortage three monthly cycle. It is the areas in which this is being done legally that worries me, the farmers and the environment have no protection there, here's hoping a public investigation into these practices might help the farmers make a more balanced decision when offered easy riches in return for a little work on free land.
Could you?
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Thailand: Army to crack down on forest encroachment
Source: Copyright 2007, Bangkok Post
Date: July 31, 2007
Byline: Subin Khuenkaew and Theerawat Khamthita
Original URL
The Third Army has announced a crackdown on burgeoning illegal deforestation activities in northern forests.
Third Army commander Lt-Gen Jiradet Khotcharat said he is determined to take action against local influential figures behind the forest encroachment. Buildings would also be cleared and equipment seized.
He referred in particular to areas in the Sopkok forest reserve in Chiang Saen district. The abused area would be restored under royally-initiated projects on forest management for sustainable development.
Lt-Gen Jiradet said the operation would not affect local people who have occupied the area for a long time. Instead, they were being encouraged to make appropriate use of forest land, abandoning the slash-and-burn agriculture of their forebears.
Statistics released by the Forest Department Department show the total area under forest in17 northern provinces had decreased from 56.75% in 2000 to 54.3% in 2004 and is now below 50% of original forest land.
Lt-Gen Jiradet is to inspect 918 rai of encroached land in Sopkok forest reserve in Chiang Saen district tomorrow.
Witoon Rermvirat, chief of the 15th forestry office, said the areas will be reforested with valuable trees such as teak and Malabar ironwood under the supervision of the Forestry Department.
A highly-placed source blamed businessmen from the South for the forest clearing, saying they wanted to use the area for palm and rubber plantations.
A close aide to a former MP in the Chiang Saen-Mae Sai area had a hand in the land encroachment and had sold the land to southern businessmen, the source said.
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DEFORESTATION (02/08/07)
Army warns influential local figures
Chiang Rai _ The Third Army commander visited encroached areas of Sopkok forest reserve in Chiang Saen district yesterday and issued a warning to local influential figures they would no longer be allowed to interfere. Lt-Gen Jiradet Khotcharat also chaired a meeting with local officials to discuss deforestation problems in six provinces in the North _ Chiang Rai, Nan, Phetchabun, Phayao, Phitsanulok and Lampang.
In Sopkok forest reserve, about 918 rai of land has been cleared for rubber plantations. It was believed local influential people with links to a key politician in the previous Thaksin Shinawatra government had a hand in the encroachment. No arrests have been made so far.
''From now on, the military, provincial and Forest Department officials will work closely to prevent interference by local influential figures,'' the Third Army commander said.
A 1,500-strong force of police, soldiers and forest officials also demolished property on 906 rai of rubber plantation in Lamnam Kok forest reserve in Mae Chan district following reports areas were cleared to make way for a luxury resort.
Forest reserves in Chiang Rai, Lampang and Nan face severe encroachment from investors searching for land for rubber plantations.
Lt-Gen Jiradet said all the encroached land would be seized pending an inquiry.
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THE NORTH / FOREST DESTRUCTION (04/08/07)
Encroachers seize over 10,000 rai
SUBIN KHEUNKAEW & THEERAWAT KHAMTHITA
Chiang Rai _ More than 10,000 rai of forest reserve land has been encroached on in six northern provinces, according to Third Army commander Jiradet Khotcharat. The Third Army recently called a meeting of the governors of six northern provinces _ Chiang Rai, Nan, Phetchabun, Phayao, Phitsanulok and Lampang _ where extensive forest encroachment had been discovered.
According to Lt-Gen Jiradet, farmers who encroached on forest reserves in the past wanted to use the land to grow corn. They also used the shifting cultivation technique which explained the rampant encroachment over wide areas.
However, over the past five years, encroachers have not been local farmers, but rather agro-business operators who purchased small land plots adjacent to forests from local farmers.
The businessmen grew para rubber saplings on the land they bought before expanding their rubber plantations into nearby forest reserves.
The army conducted a survey to establish the extent of the encroachment and found the six provinces have lost more than 10,000 rai of land combined to the illegal activity.
The survey was prompted by the discovery of 900 rai of encroached forest in Chiang Rai where the army has moved in heavy machinery to clear away encroachment sites in the forests.
Lt-Gen Jiradet said statistics from the Forest Department showed forest areas in the North have been dwindling at an alarming rate. In 2000, the areas covered 96,270 square kilometres. That number had fallen to 92,068 sq km three years ago. Among the six provinces, the problem of forest encroachment is most serious in Chiang Rai, Lampang and Nan, he said.
In a recent operation against forest encroachers, authorities seized 13 vehicles used to clear the encroached land in Sopkok forest in Chiang Rai's Chiang Saen district.
The encroachment in Sopkok forest covered 918 rai of land, causing damage to the state of about 62 million baht.
Chiang Saen police said owners of the 13 machines used to clear forest land in the Sopkok reserve have turned themselves in and have been questioned by the authorities although details of the probe were not available.
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Three agencies implicated in encroachment case
Four officials had support higher up (12.08.07)
By Theerawat Khamthita
Four government officials in three agencies are implicated in a forest encroachment case in Sopkok forest reserve in Chiang Saen district, Natural Resources and Environment Minister Kasem Snidvongs said yesterday. Mr Kasem said 10 owners of trailer trucks seized last month from the encroached forest have been questioned by the police. They pointed to four officials in three state agencies as being behind the deforestation in the forest reserve.
The officials worked at an operation level in Chiang Rai province under the Agriculture and Cooperatives and the Interior ministries.
Speaking at a briefing on progress of the investigation, Mr Kasem said those implicated worked for higher-ranking officials who supported them.
Earlier, a joint police-forestry team raided the Sopkok forest reserve near Ban Huay Koyroy on July 9 and found 918 rai of forest land had been cleared, causing damage to the state of about 62 million baht. Police seized 13 trailer trucks, processed logs, and tree-cutting equipment in the raid.
However, investigators had been unable to identify the owners of the trucks, nor businessmen believed to be involved in the case.
Later, the truck owners turned themselves in and were questioned by authorities.
The raid followed reports that a kamnan with close links to a national politician had illegally occupied nearly 1,000 rai of forest land. The politician was a minister in the ousted Thaksin Shinawatra government.
Mr Kasem said the implicated officials would be investigated.
He also said authorities must be alerted if any influential figure was found to be behind the encroachment in other areas or have obstructed the investigation process.
A a source said some members of the forest encroachment group, who worked as brokers obtaining the forest land in the Sopkok forest reserve for the businessmen, have said they wanted to hand over 400,000 baht of brokerage commission to the police investigators. They also wished to give statements to the police.
Pol Capt Samlit Singha, chief investigator of the team, said the progress of the investigation would be made known within a week.
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DSI to take on forest encroachment case
Allegations of illegal land use in Sopkok
By Theerawat Khamthita
The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) is setting up three working groups to investigate allegations of massive forest encroachment in Chiang Rai's Sopkok forest reserve.
Pinyo Thongchai, deputy director-general of the DSI, expected the working groups to launch a full investigation this week into allegations that 918 rai of protected land had been encroached upon.
A team of detectives will also be brought in to work with them to help with the questioning of witnesses and compiling evidence for the case.
Col Piyawat Kingkate, chief of the DSI's special crime division, said Chiang Saen's assistant district officer Wandee Inthorn will be appointed as a special adviser to the working groups.
Mrs Wandee had been working on the investigation into the alleged forest encroachment before she was transferred to a smaller administrative area in Pa Daet district. The transfer order will take effect on Oct 15.
Mrs Wandee said she was concerned the transfer order will put her life at risk since Pa Daet district borders Phan district where local leaders are on the list of people facing arrest warrants in connection with the Sopkok forest encroachment case.
However, she reaffirmed she would continue to dig for information that can shed some light on the case as soon as possible.
Earlier, she said former high-ranking officials from the Royal Forestry Department and some ex-police officers were behind the encroachment.
On July 9, a joint police-forestry team raided the Sopkok forest reserve near Ban Huay Koyroy and found 918 rai of forest land had been cleared, causing damage to the state of about 62 million baht. Police seized 13 trailer trucks, processed logs, and tree-cutting equipment in the raid.
A highly-placed source at the forestry office in Chiang Rai said forestry officials involved in the raid feared they might also face the axe from their jobs like Mrs Wandee.
The source also said the DSI was attempting to ask the government to step in to assist Mrs Wandee and to help facilitate the investigation.
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I saw this tucked away in the bottom of the Bangkok Post and wondered if it might be connected - given that 10 rai is a very small area, the projects would seem to be beneficial to the local community and that the forest reserves only seem to be cared about when there's a political point to be made.
I'm not sure what the legal definition of forest encroachment is but compared with the activities above, two small reservoirs seem distinctly un-sinister.
Then again, it may be completely un-connected and that I'm just seeing ghosts!
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CRIME: Ratana Jongsutanamanee, president of the Chiang Rai provincial administration organisation, was yesterday charged with forest encroachment for having approved two reservoir projects in the province three years ago.
Ms Ratana acknowledged the charge at Mae Chan police station yesterday. The two reservoirs, Huay Chang Tai and Huay Jo, cover about 10 rai in a local forest reserve.
Ms Ratana said she approved the projects to meet the local demand for water. She claimed the legal action against her was politically motivated.
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FOREST ENCROACHMENT / SOB KOK RESERVE
DSI arrests rubber firm exec
The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) has arrested an executive of Thai Rubber City Co, a latex trader, for allegedly encroaching on Sob Kok forest reserve in Chiang Rai's Chiang Saen district.
Pinyo Thongchai, deputy DSI director-general, said Thai Rubber City encroached on almost 919 rai of land in the forest reserve, causing damage to the state worth more than 62 million baht.
Police have identified seven suspects who they say encroached on more than 10,000 rai of land in the forest reserve to grow para rubber trees. Thai Rubber City's general manager Sompong Srisupotjanangkoon, 50, is one of them.
The other six suspects still at large are company employees, land brokers, and owners of the backhoes used to clear forest land in the reserve.
Mr Pinyo said Mr Sompong denied the forest encroachment charge but admitted the firm had planted rubber trees in the area.
Mr Pinyo said the DSI took over the case from local police on Oct 3 last year after receiving a complaint from a former Chiang Rai governor that a group of influential people had tried to hamper the work of local investigators.
Piyawat Kingkate, chief of the DSI special crime division, said a group of influential figures was behind the encroachment on some 10,000 rai of land in the forest reserve.
After the DSI took over the case, an assistant chief of Chiang Saen district, Wandee Inthorn, a key witness, was transferred to Wiang Chai district. She also received a phone call threatening her life, Col Piyawat said.
Col Piyawat said the DSI had asked for a list of Thai Rubber City's shareholders from the Department of Commercial Registration to see if any of them were foreigners.
Former Chiang Rai governor Amornphan Nimanan, in his complaint lodged with the DSI, said a group of encroachers backed by foreign investors bought land from residents who had illegally occupied land in the reserve. After that, they hired backhoes to fell trees and clear forest areas before growing rubber trees.
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Forest encroachment case on hold
Questionable transfers at DSI let some high-profile suspects off the hook
By Theerawat Khamthita
The Sob Kok forest encroachment case may suffer an indefinite delay in being presented to the prosecution following the mass transfer of investigators from the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) recently, said a senior department source. The high-profile case is likely to hit a stalemate after Sunai Manomai-udom was transferred as chief of the DSI on Feb 22 to serve as acting secretary-general of the newly-established Office for the Prevention and Suppression of Corruption in the State Sector. Last week 31 other DSI officials, including some key investigators dealing with the Sob Kok case, were also shifted to the new office. Pol Col Piyawat Kingket, the chief investigator, has also been removed as DSI spokesman, raising concern among the remaining Sob Kok investigators they could also be on the way out.
The source said the transfers had dealt a serious blow to the probe which was making headway into the encroachment of the 916-rai Sob Kok forest reserve in Chiang Saen district of Chiang Rai.
The source said the way things are going at the moment, it would be difficult to conclude the case and an indefinite delay in its submission to the prosecutors was highly likely.
The source explained that the investigation now should have proceeded to the point where more suspects should have been arrested and the case rounded off at the end of last month. But Mr Sunai's abrupt transfer slowed the progress of the investigation, which eventually ground to a halt with the transfer of the other 31 officials. The source said officials close to the government had replaced the probe team.
The source claimed that officials loyal to the past government had a hand in the encroachment and these same people are now being allowed to serve as members of the probe team. This explains how some prime suspects have managed to elude arrest.
In a related development, a man was caught clearing land in a forest reserve in Muang district of Chiang Rai.
Somsak Yeepinyo, 46, was arrested following a raid conducted by a 50-strong combined force in the Mae Kok forest in Ban Pa Lan. A tractor was also impounded. Thanongsak Thammano, head of the forest protection unit, said about one rai of fertile forest was damaged.
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CHIANG RAI
Action urged against forest encroachers
POST REPORTERS
A local conservation group has stepped up its calls for Interior Minister Chalerm Yubamrung to take action against former government officials and close aides of a local politician for their alleged role in encroachment on Sop Kok forest reserve in Chiang Rai's Chiang Saen district. Tough action in the case would set a precedent for encroachers in other areas, said Nikorn Laowanit, a key member of the Rak Chiang Saen conservation group.
He said Mr Chalerm should urgently bring the masterminds in the Sop Kok forest encroachment to justice as there was clear evidence against them.
Interior permanent secretary Pongpayome Vasaputi yesterday instructed all provincial governors to look into encroachment on public land, particularly the clearing of forest land for construction of resort hotels.
In Phayao, a local conservation group accused government officials of clearing land in the Bosom forest reserve.
Local activists in tambon Chiang Raeng yesterday lodged a complaint with Phu Sang district chief Suthee Puchinda, demanding action against four alleged forest encroachers _ a member of Chiang Raeng tambon administration organisation, a former TAO member and teachers. They accused the four of planting rubber trees to claim ownership of the encroached areas.
Meanwhile, a National Human Rights Commission sub-panel yesterday arrived in Surat Thani to inspect some 1,600 rai of land that has been occupied by a company called Srisuban that is run by the family of Democrat party secretary-general Suthep Thaugsuban.
Villagers complained that the land, held by the firm, overlapped with theirs.
Pol Col Somphol Ratthakarn, a member of the sub-panel, said oil palm trees, aged around 15-20 years old, were found in the areas, suggesting local people had occupied the land before land ownership papers were issued for the company.
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Corrupt officials 'behind' land encroachment
Motive shifting from farming to tourism
By King-oua Laohong
The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) has treated 60 cases of land encroachment as special cases, department chief Thawee Sodsong said. Corrupt officials have played a part in most of the land encroachment cases which involved illegal issuance of land ownership documents on forest reserves and state property, he said.
The objective of forest encroachment had shifted from making a living through farming to tourism development, the DSI chief said during a recent workshop on land encroachment.
The Sob Kok forest encroachment case may suffer delays in being presented to the prosecution following the mass transfer of investigators from the DSI recently, said a senior department source.
The cases under investigation include alleged encroachment of more than 900 rai of Sob Kok forest reserves in Chiang Saen district of Chiang Rai.
Thawee: The country is paying a high price
''The encroachment on state land and illegal issuance of land ownership deeds deal a severe blow to the economy. For example, a land plot may be sold for only five million baht even though the actual value is higher than that,'' Mr Thawee said.
''In many cases, land occupants used illegal documents to apply for bank loans, which can run into the billions of baht. If it can be proved that the documents were illegally issued, ownership will be revoked. That will cause damage to the economic system,'' he said.
The workshop focused on strategies for tackling land encroachment, ranging from preventative measures to public participation.
The DSI is seeking cooperation from the Geo-Informatics and the Space Technology Development Agency (Gistda) to examine how land has been used over the past 20 years.
Information from Gistda would be used to verify ownership claims in property disputes between the state and land occupants who typically claimed they had resided on the land before it was designated as forest reserve.
The guidelines that come out from the workshop will be proposed to cabinet at its meeting on May 17.
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