Thai Deputy Education Minister accused of encroaching on national park, suspended

Thailand’s Deputy Education Minister has been accused of encroaching on a national park in central Thailand. Today the Supreme Court has suspended the deputy minister, Kanokwan Wilawan, from her duties, Thai media reported.

The country’s National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) said that Kanokwan obtained a deed in 2002 for 30 rai of land in the central province of Prachin Buri, in the main city district. The NACC said that Kanokwan claimed she had bought the deed from a man named Thewe Malison in 1990, but this man does not exist. The land is also part of Khao Yai National Park and its forest area.

Kanokwan has now been suspended from her duties as Deputy Education Minister from the date the Supreme Court accepts the NACC’s petition until a ruling is issued. The NACC has also asked the court to remove her from her position and revoke her right to stand in an election or vote for a maximum of 10 years. Kanokwan has 14 days to file an objection, and the first hearing will be on October 5.

Kanokwan is not the only Thai official who has been accused of encroaching on forest land. In April, a former MP of Thailand’s Palang Pracharath was permanently banned from Thai politics for using forest reserve land in Ratchaburi province for her farm.

Time will tell what the outcome of Kanokwan’s case will be.

SOURCE: Matichon