The Ban Rin Luang indigenous Lisu community from Chiang Mai’s Chiang Dao District has filed a petition with the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment calling for an end to prosecution and eviction after park officials destroyed their crops. 

Members of the Ban Rin Luang Lisu community gathered in front of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment on Friday (20 September).

According to the petition, On 16 September, following an order issued by the head of the Pha Daeng National Park, park officials and government officials of unknown affiliation went into farmland being used by the community and destroyed the crops without notifying the community. Police and Border Patrol Police officers were also stationed in the area during the operation.

The petition says that park officials destroyed crops that would soon be harvested, causing financial concerns for community members who took out loans for farming. They are also concerned that they will never be allowed back on the land.

Around 11 members of the community came to the Ministry on Friday morning (20 September) with sacks containing the remains of their crops. One of the community members said that the community has tried negotiating with the Pha Daeng National Park. They have filed petitions with the Damrongtham Centre, the Governor of Chiang Mai Province , local MPs, and the the Chiang Mai Forest Resources Management Office. Since no agency was able to help them, they decided to come to the Ministry so that an order can be made to the national park for an end to the raids.

“We borrowed money to invest in farming. We don’t have a lot of land. Each family has just enough for themselves, but since they’ve destroyed [the crops] like this, how will we live?” the community member said. “Now, we want to head of the park to take responsibility for what they did, stop destroying the crops, and to have sympathy for their fellow people.”

Jaratsri Chan-ai (center)

Jaratsi Chan-ai from the Northern Peasant Federation (NPF) said that the Ban Rin Luang community was living in the area before the declaration of the Pha Daeng National Park in 2000. In 2012, community members were charged with encroachment for using over a thousand rai of land, despite evidence that they had been farming on the land before it became a national park.

When the National Park Act was amended in 2019, park officials refused to conduct a new survey, claiming that they could not do so because the land was already the subject of an encroachment lawsuit. Under the current version of the Act, national park heads also have the authority to make an arrest at any time.

Jaratsi said that under a prior agreement with the authorities, the community would have the right to any piece of land that was already being used before 2002 or between 2002 – 2014. Meanwhile, any farming that began after 2014 would be considered encroachment, and Jaratsi said that the community has told the authorities they are willing to return such land to the park and help park officials plant trees on the land.

Jaratsi said that instead of contesting the entire piece of land in a lawsuit, park officials should be conducting a survey to ensure that the community members farming land they have been using since before the national park was declared continue to have the right to their land. The community has also been fighting for a community title deed so that they can regulate the use of their land together and ensure that it would not be sold to outsiders without the consent of the entire community.

The community members, along with representatives of the NPF and the People Movement for a Just Society (P-Move), then met with Jatuporn Buruspat, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, and Attapon Charoenchansa, Director of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP).

Jatuporn told them that the law must be followed, but the issue needs to be solved humanely. He promised that the DNP will try to find a solution for the community and the national park to co-exist. He also promised that the Ministry will investigate the legal procedure around the encroachment charge in 30 days. A survey of the community’s land use will also be conducted, and ongoing cases will be suspended for the time being. The Ministry will also consider compensating community members whose crops were destroyed.

Meanwhile, Attapon said that there was a prior agreement with the community that part of the land would become part of a reforestation project, but because the trees planted on the land were not growing well, park officials intensified enforcement of the law and began clearing out crops planted by community members. He said he would order park officials to suspend their operations, claiming that he already sent the order during the negotiations.

Jatuporn Buruspat (center) and Attapon Charoenchansa (right) during the negotiation.

The community members then filed a petition demanding an end to raids and prosecution while negotiations are ongoing, and for the Pha Daeng National Park and its affiliated organization to explain their criteria for filing charges against the community.

They also called for a working group to be formed to find a solution between the communities around the Phae Daeng National Park and the authorities. The Ministry must also order the Pha Daeng National Park to follow two cabinet resolutions issued as guidelines for solving community rights issues, and to find a way to remedy the effected communities.

Lastly, the community calls for disciplinary action against the head of the Pha Daeng National Park for exercising his power without consideration of human rights principles.

Jaratsi and the community members are unsure about the result of the negotiation. She said that they have had many similar conversations, but could not reach an agreement. Meanwhile, community members were being threatened with prosecution. The local authorities had told the community that they could arrest anyone who goes onto the land because an encroachment case has already been opened, Jaratsi said, noting that this is not the first time a raid was conducted. She said, however, that they will have to wait and see and that they will be back for a follow-up in 30 days.

“If we go on like this, we will get hit eventually. We die if we stay. We die if we don’t. It’s better to try coming here. There might be a way out,” Jaratsi said.