BANG KLOI, Thailand: No-ae Meemi looks frail in the crowd of villagers at the community hall. His long grey hair is covered in a light turban, lips red from chewing betel.
The evacuation was largely due to border security concerns and efforts to conserve the Phetchaburi watershed forest. The resettlement would not have happened without a promise by the authorities – one of a better life, new houses and farmland in what would become the village of Bang Kloi today. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Prayut chan-o-cha has set up a committee to look into the issues faced by the Karens in Bang Kloi.The Kaeng Krachan National Park covers a vast area of pristine forest.
“We carried out an inspection flight above the forest along the border and found signs of encroachment scattered in the area,” Kaeng Krachan forestry officer Nijitnapong Bunditsamit said in a meeting with lawmakers and academics upon their visit to the park in March. He was part of the inspection team at the time.
A bamboo house in the village of Bang Kloi, where a number of Karen families were resettled in 1996. Their refusal to leave led park officials to inform the police. Eighty three people were later removed from the forest. Following the clearance, 42 adults and 41 children were brought back to Bang Kloi. Twenty-two people, including No-ae, were arrested for encroaching the national park and later granted temporary release without bail. They are forbidden from returning to Upper Bang Kloi or trespassing on the park without permission.
In February, a group of Karens travelled to the Government House in Bangkok. They demanded their rights to live and farm in their ancestral land after the COVID-19 pandemic increased hardships in the village. “Before we moved, the officials promised to give us farmland. But until now, I haven’t received anything,” Kaew Kwabu told CNA.
Another issue of divergence between authorities and the Karens of Bang Kloi is whether the traditional practice of rotational farming would harm the national park. "Although a group of people reasoned they had lived there for a long time, every single square inch of Thailand belongs to Thai people, especially the Kaeng Krachan forest, which we’ll soon nominate as a world heritage site."
Why take the people from the land, they have been there tending to the land and are synergistic. At this point they are one. Sigh.
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