PUBLISHED: 14 Sep 2024 at 04: 00
Thirty citizens, including nine children, were arrested yesterday for crossing the border illegally, encroaching on forest area, and destroying the forest in Srinagarindra Dam National Park in Kanchanaburi.
The arrests were made by the Department of National Parks, Wildlife, and Plant Conservation assistant director-general Weera Khunchairuk, along with defense personnel and police officers.
The action was taken in response to a complaint made on Thursday by the government about a group of stateless individuals threatening the forests in Srinagarindra Dam National Park and frightening the Ban Ong Lu group in tambon Na Suan of Kanchanaburi’s Sri Sawat area.
According to Mr. Weera, the encroachers reportedly lived in tents inside the regional area, were gun-possessed, displayed disturbing behavior, and planned to recruit more people.
The soldiers arrested 11 people, 10 people and nine children, and seized five weapons, bulletproof vests, weapons, swords, chainsaws, handheld transponders and mobile phones. Twenty-nine were from the Karen tribal group, and one was Thai.
The defendants were charged with property invasion, burning and damaging the forest, taking hunting gear and weapons into a nationwide garden, and entering the country without authorisation.