Phetchabun residents petition over Khao Kho land dispute

A heated land dispute in Phetchabun’s Khao Kho district led residents of 35 local communities to petition two House committees for intervention.

Opposition leader and member of the House of Representatives committees on the military and natural resources and environmental affairs, Chaithawat Tulathon, received the petition yesterday. Buppha Chanpheng, representing the locals living within the Khao Kho forest complex, submitted the document.

The petition reveals that park authorities have accused several residents of encroaching on a protected reserve, with some inhabitants already facing official charges. Buppha Chanpheng indicated that last year, the park authorities started demanding rent from the communities. This was an unacceptable request for the residents, who firmly believed in their legal entitlement to inhabit the area.

Interestingly, most of the residents in the disputed zone, many from ethnic minority groups, have been residing within the forest complex since the 1970s. In 1977, amid the conflict between the Thai military and the Communist Party of Thailand, local villagers were asked to collaborate with the military. As a part of the agreement, they were permitted to settle in the area and promised title deeds to the land they occupied.

This promise, however, was seemingly disregarded when the area was declared a forest reserve in 1986. Despite this declaration, Buppha argues that the residents have the right to remain within the forest complex. She substantiates this claim by pointing out that just before the area was declared a natural reserve, temporary certificates of occupation were issued for 585 land plots, reported Bangkok Post.

“We have done nothing wrong. We have already written a report to various government agencies, but they remain silent. So we have to ask MPs to bring this matter to the House of Representatives on behalf of the people in distress.”

In their petition, the group has requested that the government dismiss the land encroachment charges levelled against the villagers. Their plea signifies the ongoing tension and uncertainty surrounding the rights and status of the inhabitants of the Khao Kho forest complex.