Offenders assert that they were unaware that they were on Prachuap Khiri Khan’s national park area.
PUBLISHED: 21 Mar 2025 at 20: 26
In connection with the improper checking in Pa Phu Nam Khem National Park in Prachuap Khiri Khan state, police on Friday detained two Thai citizens and 19 Myanmar immigrants.
According to Pol Lt Gen Jirabhop Bhuridej, the head of the Central Investigation Bureau ( CIB ), the suspects admitted to the crime but claimed they were unaware they were on national park land.  ,
The officers Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Suppression Division raided the wooded region in Bang Saphan area on the advice of a tip from Thursday. They also conducted a search there along with local police, aristocratic forest department personnel, and local police.
Five energy saws, two bulldozers, two trucks, four machines, eight gallons of gasoline, according to Pol Lt Gen Jirabhop, among the products seized.
The employees claimed that unknown people had employed them to reduce rubber trees. The suspects have been employed at the location since Thursday, according to the local residents who gave the suggestion to authorities.
The suspects face charges of unlawful checking and violating the 1964 National Forest Reserve Act.
They were afterwards turned over to the Bang Saphan authorities for trial.
A police agent speaks with a group of 21 offenders who were detained on Friday in Prachuap Khiri Khan after being caught logging illegally in Pa Phu Nam Khem National Park. ( Photo provided/Wassayos Ngamkham )