A local environmental preservation network has proposed closing Khao Yai National Park for three months to rehabilitate nature there as tourists and business operators are damaging it.
Forest rangers in vehicles try to drive a wild elephant called Ai Duan back to the forest in Khao Yai National Park after the pachyderm destroyed roadside stalls yesterday morning.Intarachai Panichakul
But the authorities said such a plan would result in severe impacts on locals and raise the threat of forest encroachment.
Tawan Srikanil, a coordinator of the so-called Rak Khao Yai network, said his group will meet forest officials and tourism operators on Saturday to solve the problems of wild elephants crossing roads and into populated areas in Khao Yai.
He said it is clear the elephants' behaviour is caused by humans who lure the animals out for their own interests.
He said some reckless tour guides manoeuvred their cars to force elephants in the forest to move closer so his tourists could snap photos.
"That is ugly behaviour and is the reason why elephants tend to attack the cars," he said.
He said he believes park officials are helping the tour guides, as they were unlikely to be acting alone.
The network formed after a series of wild elephant invasions of residential zones in the park and recent attacks on cars as they passed through the park.
Mr Tawan said his network would suggest a three-month closure of Khao Yai National Park during the rainy season so that wildlife and plants could recover after suffering as a result of tourist activities.
"We will also submit our demands to Natural Resources and Environment Minister Gen Dapong Ratanasuwan next week," he said. To ease the impacts of the closure, other tourist attractions around the park could be promoted instead.
"Khao Yai is seriously ill and it needs urgent treatment. The ministry should have a clear position on whether the park is a place for making money or a place for conserving nature," he said.
Khao Yai National Park, registered as a Unesco World Heritage site, attracts over one million visitors per year. Peak periods are usually at long weekends when the park is packed with large numbers of visitors.
Amid the influx of visitors, property developments have mushroomed in surrounding areas. Several of them have encroached in the park and local forests. Luxury resorts and condominiums are being built while proper zoning laws have not yet been imposed in the area.
The Rak Khao Yai network has also expressed concern over the large amount of underground water being consumed which could harm the forest complex and its natural water sources.
The group will ask the parks department to prohibit hunting in 30,000 rai of forest reserve connected to Khao Yai National Park as rare animals live there.
Kanchit Srinoppawan, chief of Khao Yai National Park, said he could not listen to one-sided information and just close the park. Closing it would affect the tourism industry and local people whose livelihoods depend on tourism. Locals would be unable to sell their products to tourists if the park is closed, which would put the park at risk of further encroachment.
However, he said if experts and locals agree at the Saturday meeting to the network's proposal to close the park, he will submit the resolution to the ministry for a decision.