The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) is attempting to pass controversial draft amendments to two laws that will allow national parks to be leased to private resort operators and the wildlife trade to be legalised, the Seub Nakhasathien Foundation claimed yesterday.
The claim was made at a seminar entitled "Amending forest and wildlife laws for whom?", organised yesterday by the Thai Journalists Association, the foundation and the Thai Society of Environmental Journalists.
The government last tried to pass draft amendments to the National Parks Act 1961 and the Wildlife Conservation Act 1992 about 10 years ago, but the changes were met with strong resistance and were eventually shelved, said the foundation's secretary-general Sasin Chalermlarp.
The main reason behind the strong opposition to the amendments this time was they were aimed at commercialising the national parks and the country's wildlife in the name of tourism promotion, he said.
The foundation said it was opposed to attempts to dust off the draft amendments to the two laws. The DNP should listen to what the public has to say before pressing ahead with the legislative changes or a backlash would result, Mr Sasin said.
Anak Pattanawibul, a lecturer with the Faculty of Forests at Kasetsart University, said past attempts to integrate tourism into the management of national parks failed and cost the country in dwindling numbers of forest areas and lower numbers of wildlife.
Mr Anak was speaking at the same seminar yesterday.
The draft amendments to the Wildlife Conservation Act were a new bid to promote the trade of wildlife, though in principle only cultivated wildlife will be allowed to be traded, he said.
This does not conform to the international principle of wildlife conservation because the promotion of the wildlife trade would provide incentives for villagers to hunt wild animals for money, Mr Anak said.
Khemthong Tonsakul, a law lecturer with Chulalongkorn University, said one of the main problems with the draft amendments was the proposed zoning of national park areas for lease to private resort operators.
It was unclear whether new areas will be zoned for this purpose, he said.
The draft amendment to Section 38 of the National Parks Act to allow private resort operators to occupy national parks on a lease for up to 30 years also pose problems because it is unclear who will take responsibility for the parks should any damage occur to them over such a long period, he added.
Sakanant Plathong, a lecturer with Prince of Songkla University, said the DNP was often prone to political interference.
Nitipong Saenjan, a representative of the department at the seminar, admitted the DNP was working on the legal amendments, though he insisted the public would get a say on the changes.
The two laws were very old and were currently being amended while a public hearing on the proposed amendments is planned for later this month, Mr Nitipong said.