<p>Pvt Somchai Si-ueangdoi&nbsp;is from the Karen ethnic group and from Chiang Mai. He decided to serve in the military to earn money to support his mom and sister after his dad passed away. &nbsp;About two years of conscription, Pvt Somchai was allegedly beaten to death. Like many other cases related to torture in the barracks, the court dismissed the case.&nbsp;</p> <p></p>

<p>The Appeal Court has sentenced 20 members of the Pakayaw Karen ethnic group to between one and five years’ imprisonment for illegal logging in protected areas.</p> <p>The Provincial Court of Mae Sariang District in the northern province of Mae Hong Son on Wednesday convicted 20 Pakayaw Karen from Ban Thung Pa Kha, Mae La Noi District, to one to five years in jail for possessing illegal teak wood.</p> <p>The court did not suspend the jail term and the defendants were taken to Mae Sariang prison after the verdict was read.</p>

<p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-d6c42da7-3aa7-355b-e84b-6d79815fe637">The Appeal Court convicted a Karen villager accused of illegal logging in northern Thailand to 1.5 years in prison. This is a result of the junta's ‘Return the Forest’ policy which has adversely effected the poor of the country.&nbsp;</span></p>

<p>The criminal court has convicted 39 Pakayaw Karen villagers on charges related to illegal logging and forest encroachment and sentenced them to imprisonment and fines. This is believed to be the first large scale prosecution of so-called ‘encroachers’ under the junta’s heavy-handed approach to increase forest coverage.</p>

<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>