The Thai authorities have accused three villagers in Chaiyaphum Province in Isaan, northeastern Thailand, of trespassing in a National Park.

The police from Wangtakhe Police Station on Monday, 18 July 2016, informed Thongpan Muangklang, a 55-year-old farmer from Sap Wai Village, Nong Bua Rawe District, that she has been accused of trespassing in Sai Thong National Park in the province, Esaan Land Reform News (ELRN) reported. 

Thongpan together with her two daughters, Nittaya Muangklang and Narisara Muangklang, are accused by the authorities of violating the 1941 Forest Act by encroaching into a National Park.

The three have so far denied the accusation, saying that they have been living and farming in the area for several decades, like many other villagers in the area.

At the police station, many other Sap Wai villagers and staff of ELRN gathered in support of the three.

According to Thongpan, the land her family is living on was given to her by her parents in 1986. However, after the Thai junta’s National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) in 2014 issued NCPO Order 64/2014 to increase forest area in the country, she and many other villagers were informed that they have allegedly encroached into the National Park and would be evicted.  

She added that the authorities in 2014 informed her that she and the other villagers would have to return only parts of their land. However, in 2015, the authorities visited the village and forced them to sign a document to accept the eviction order.

ELRN reported that in March 2016 the provincial administration, represented by Nipon Sathitsamitthapong, Deputy Governor of Chaiyaphum Province, formed a local committee to solve land conflicts in the area, but no solution has been reached, while many villagers are being accused of encroachment.

After the NCPO issued NCPO Orders 64/2014 and 66/2014 in June 2014 to protect and reclaim Thailand’s protected areas, many poor communities countrywide have been evicted by the authorities.

According to the NGO Coordinating Committee on Development (NGO-COD) of the Northeast, since 2014, 103 small-scale farmers have already been accused of encroaching on protected areas and almost 1,800 in the Northeast have now been prohibited from using their farmland and are about to receive court summons for alleged encroachment.

People from Sab Huay Village of Chaiyaphum Province gathering at Wangtakhe Police Station in support for Thongpan's family on 18 July 2016 (Photo from Esaan Land Reform News (ELRN))