Hunderts of acres of private jungle have been cleared for edible plantations.
PUBLISHED: 27 Feb 2025 at 05: 42
The investigation into a Chinese company that fraudulently cleared more 600 ray of national bush area in Chachoengsao’s Tha Takiab district to foster citrus is growing more and more serious.
After receiving complaints about illegal durian orchards in the Khwae Rabom and Siyat National Forest Reserves, Cheewapap Cheewatham, the committee chairman, convened a meeting on Wednesday with representatives from the Royal Forest Department ( RFD ) and the Chachoengsao Provincial Natural Resources and Environment Office.
Since then, the RFD has taken control of the area.
He claimed that the RFD had been given instructions by the council to conduct an investigation and gather information, including information on local people selling reserved forest area to a international investment as part of the National Land Policy Committee program.
According to preliminary results, the offenders unlawfully occupied forest land and violated Sections 54 and 14 of the National Reserved Forest Act by encroaching on a regional designated forest area.
A business inspection revealed that the Chinese company had formally promoted its 5, 335 ray of edible farms in Thailand and 339 ray in Malaysia. Electrical, water and system systems were nearly fully established.
We demand that all parties involved in the case be thoroughly investigated and prosecuted, not only local candidates. Traders, officials, and individuals who sold designated house to the Chinese firm must be identified by authorities. Anyone involved in the illegal land transaction may face legal effects”, he said.
At its upcoming reading, the council will call the Tha Takiab police for additional testimony.
Also, he stated that the RFD has been given the task of developing practical steps to prevent future encroachments on nationwide forest land and enforcing the removal of unlawful durian orchards to recover the area.
An investigation revealed that a Thai-owned business had been acquiring property from local residents and collecting 1,400 ray for cashew nuts farming, according to Phansak Thammarat, the Chachoengsao Provincial Natural Resources and Environment Office’s head of natural assets.
However, the company later sold the land to the Chinese firm, which has already planted durian on 450 ray of its 600-rai story while allowing visitors to grow vegetation on the remaining property.
Authorities are now prosecuting the residents who allegedly illegally sold their land rights, he continued.