Members of the Bang Kloi community and civil society organizations gathered on 17 April to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the disappearance of indigenous rights activist Porlajee Rakchongcharoen, while the community continues to face land right issues.

On Monday (4 September), members of indigenous communities in Lampang marched to the Ngao District Office in Lampang to protest the declaration of a new national park in the area due to the concerns that their lands would be taken over by the park.

<p>The Bang Kloi indigenous Karen community continues to face ongoing land rights and food security issues despite an MOU signed with government officials in early 2021.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Thailand&rsquo;s nomination of the Kaeng Krachan Forest Complex for World Heritage status should once again be deferred due to concerns about violations of the rights of local indigenous communities, says the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).</p>

<p>MPs from the Move Forward Party (MFP) have proposed a new bill to protect indigenous rights and cultures.</p>

<p>The Save Bang Kloi Coalition held a candlelight vigil last night (16 March), the 10th day of their protest at Government House, to call for justice for the indigenous Karen community at Bang Kloi, in remembrance of Lahu indigenous rights activist Chaiyaphum Pasae, who was killed at a checkpoint by military officers in 2017. &nbsp;</p>

<p>22 members of the Bang Kloi indigenous Karen community who were <a href="https://prachatai.com/english/node/9104">detained</a> on Friday (5 March) were granted temporarily release by the Phetchaburi Provincial Court on Sunday (7 March).</p>

<p>87 members of the Bang Kloi indigenous Karen community, who travelled back to the location of their former village in the Kaeng Krachan forest, have been forcibly taken out of the forest and arrested by park officials, police, and military officers.</p>

<p>In news reports less than 10 years ago, the new problem of PM2.5 dust was added to news items in the Thai media of forest fires and the problem of haze caused by forest fires and crop burning. This has led to a clear concrete policy shift, since it has a direct impact on the lives of the middle class in the country&rsquo;s large cities, especially major centres like Bangkok and tourist spots like Chiang Mai Province. With an unidentifiable origin, smog, forest fires and PM2.5 have by implication become the same thing.</p>

<p>After being forcibly evacuated from their ancestral homeland in the Kaeng Krachan forest twice, the Bang Kloi indigenous Karen community has been facing community rights issues, which remain unresolved. The community is now at risk of another forced evacuation, while Thailand still has no legislation protecting indigenous rights.</p>

<p>Members of the Bang Kloi indigenous Karen community and the activist Save Bang Kloi Coalition have gathered at the Chamai Maruchet Bridge for the past three days to demand protection for members of the Bang Kloi Community who returned to their ancestral home.</p>

<p>Following a report that&nbsp;members of the Bang Kloi Karen community have returned to their ancestral land at Chai Phaen Din, the remaining community members and a network of civil society organizations have issued a statement calling for the authorities to allow the community to stay at Chai Phaen Din until a resolution is reached, and must not conduct any operation that affects them.&nbsp;</p>