<div> <div>A provincial court in northern Thailand has found three ethnic Lahu villagers guilty of encroaching on a national park and offences against authorities.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On 27 September 2016, Fang Provincial Court sentenced three ethnic Lahu: Withun Khiriratsami, Pra-ae Khiriratsami and Chakui Chabalo. The three were accused of encroaching on Doi Pha Hom Pok National Park and of assaulting park rangers.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Withun faces a one year and two month suspended jail term and 4,500 baht fine. </div></div>

<div> <div>Poor people across the country continue to be affected from the junta’s policy to reclaim protected areas. The latest eviction, without any relocation plan, involves 800 families in six villages in the northeastern province of Chaiyaphum.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Villagers who live in the protected area of Sai Thong National Park, Wang Takhe Sub-district, Nong Bua Rawe District, have been facing a state campaign to evict them since June 2014. </div></div>

<p dir="ltr">&nbsp;</p> <p dir="ltr">After the coup d’état in May, the junta promised to return happiness to the Thai people. One of the policies that the junta has announced to deliver on this promise is an order to increase Thailand’s forest cover and tighten measures for land resource protection. Although the policy might seem ecologically sensible to many conservationists, the green-grabbing policy of the junta harms many of Thailand’s marginalised communities.</p> <p></p>