Prime minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has put the bracks on a plan to cut down 2,000 teak trees in Chiang Mai for the construction of the new parliament building, following opposition from residents.
The decision was revealed Tuesday by acting Royal Forest Department chief Pralong Dumrongthai.
He said the prime minister telephone National Resources and Environment Minister Surasak Karnjanarat to stop the plan to chop down the trees at a teak plantation in Mae Ho Phra forest park, which is owned by the FIO in Chaing Mai’s Doi Saket district.
He said the Forestry Industry Organisation [FIO] was contracted by the new parliament construction project contractor to supply 2,000 teak trees to be used in the construction of the 12-billion-bath complex in the Kiakkai area of Bangkok
The department has now stopped any plans to fell the trees at the behest of the prime minister, Mr. Pralong said, adding that the next move for the contractor may be to buy trees from aboad of from FIO
The government has a clear policy to increase area, which the prime minister aimed to follow in his instructing the ministry to turn the FIO’s forest part into a national forest reserve and devise measures to protect and preserve it.