Forest Reclamation Policy

29 Jan 2024
The Thai government's plan for a carbon credit programme to achieve carbon neutrality has raised concerns among the civil society that it will lead to a new wave of conflict over land rights and that forest area will be handed over to the private sector.
20 Apr 2023
One leader in the movement against the forest reclamation policy of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), Den Khamlae, a leading land rights activist, mysteriously disappeared 7 years ago and was later declared dead. He was last seen entering a forest to collect mushrooms and bamboo shoots in Khok Yao community in Chaiyaphum Province, where the villagers face a land dispute.
10 Dec 2022
The "Forest Reclamation Policy,” led to regulations to stop encroachment on forest resources in 2014. Enforcement resulted in more than 46,000 villagers around the country being arrested and sued.  Most were villagers who lived on, or had land plots that overlapped with, forest preserve areas in various ways.
28 Jul 2022
The Supreme Court has sentenced an indigenous Karen woman to 2 years and 8 months in prison for encroaching on National Park land despite pleas that the piece of land was passed down through her family.
17 Sep 2020
The Appeal Court has sentenced a villager in Lampang to 1 year in prison and a fine of 400,000 baht for encroaching on national park land, despite evidence that the plot in question has been occupied since 1954.
21 Aug 2019
Infographics by Kittiya On-inSources: Esaan Land Reform News, iLaw, Protection International and Prachatai
16 Aug 2019
In the case of 14 Sapwai villagers from Chaiyaphum Province, sentenced to imprisonment and fines by the Court of First Instance and the Court of Appeal after refusing to move from their land under the ‘forest reclamation’ policy, their lawyer indicated that the problem started from missing survey data leading to a lack of legal documents, and their defence which the court refused to consider.
10 Jul 2019
Manushya Foundation and the Thai Business & Human Rights Network call on Thai authorities to remedy the harm caused to the 14 villagers of Sab Wai village by dropping all charges against them, and by restoring their lost rights related to land, livelihood, food, housing and due process.
4 Jul 2019
Northeast villagers get jail terms with big fines under NCPO's Forest Reclamation Policy.
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