Forest case rings alarms
Aseminal court case clashed with new government policy, and it is going to take some time to sort out the outcome. In the Court of Appeal, a so-called “forest dweller” was found guilty of trespassing and imprisoned for a year with a hefty fine of 140,000 baht. At Government House at almost the same time, a new programme to reform forest laws was announced. Its aim is to commercialise forested areas.
The guilty person is well known to those who follow the issue closely. Nittaya Muangklang and her family have become activists in the battle to enable forest dwellers to remain on land they have occupied for generations. Ms Nittaya told the Court of Appeal in her native Chaiyaphum province that that Muangklangs had lived on the land since before the 1941 Forest Act under which she was convicted. That and subsequent laws of its kind aim to boot out citizens without rock-solid land ownership papers.
Of course, few of the tens of thousands of people living on declared forest lands have such papers. Indigenous people have been tossed off their land as “encroachers” or “trespassers” for a long time now. The current military regime has stepped up the process. But it has also shown sympathy in certain cases. Some forest dwellers are apparently “good” while others, particularly those whose land is inside a national park, have been designated as “bad”.
Ms Nittaya, her family and fellow Sap Wai village citizens live in Nong Bua Rawe district. It is best known as the home of Sai Thong National Park and its annual floral displays. Siam tulips are on display right now as the rains begin to peak, and seas of pink lotuses on lily pads stretch as far as the eyes can see in the cold season of January. Tens of thousands of tourists hit these peaceful attractions each year, with many then proceeding into Sai Thong National Forest and its view from above at the seemingly death-defying outcrop up the mountain road to Phu Hum Hod.
The court’s decision against Ms Nittaya touches all her neighbours and of course her own family. It is the first such legal decision that can now be used as precedent by police and the army to expand their campaigns in trespassing and encroaching cases.
One must hope that the government realises the importance of the case involving Ms Nittaya and acts accordingly. The temptation by literal- and mean-minded officials will be to immediately widen and intensify force while expelling or prosecuting forest-dwellers. This would be wrong.
The government should do the opposite. It must declare its intention to quickly reform the mishmash of laws, regulations and unfair persecution of some forest-dwelling families. The country deserves a single, clear law on the issue. For an obvious abuse of justice, consider that at present, the government has given rights and even benefits to 11,000 villages located in reserve forests, while denying all rights and threatening expulsion in national parks.
To bring the laws into accord with justice, authorities must first halt all forest prosecution cases — both those in progress and those pending. If necessary to circumnavigate red tape, the prime minister can achieve this at a stroke of his Section 44 pen. He should appoint and back a reform commission with clear instructions to involve and bring the public into the process.
There are two requirements on this issue that can be met simultaneously. The first is conservation and ecology. National and private forests must be better managed, with more coordination at provincial, district and village levels. The other is proper 21st-century justice for those who not only have claims to land going back for decades, but actually help to maintain and preserve a sustainable environment.
It is the first such legal decision that can now be used as precedent by police and the army.