Authorities will survey land on a mountain in Phetchabun on Thursday in a bid to
end land encroachment by resort operators.
The officials, from the Department
of Social Development and Welfare and
the Royal Forestry Department, will also
devise a master plan to manage the land on
Phutubberk mountain, which is classified
as a protected “permanent forest"
The cabinet in 1966 allocated 47,000 rai
of forest to 3,500 Hmong families living on
the mountain in Lorn Kao district as a way
of tackling the communist insurgency by
improving their quality of life. '
The government allowed them to stay
there on the condition that they not cut
dovmtrees or grow narcotic plants. Land
transfers were also not allowed, nor was
any activity that might destroy the forest’s
ecological system. .
However, resort operators have illegally purchased plots of land in the area,
which has now become a popular tourist destination.
The Criminal Court recently issued an
order that the owners and personnel of 10
resorts at Phutubberk must vacate. RFD
chief Chonlatid Suraswadi said officials
would continue monitoring land encroachment in the area.