Is it 'Alien' or 'Avatar' in Kaeng Krachan? | Bangkok Post: news

Last July the mysterious crashes of three military helicopters in the space of a couple of weeks riveted the country's focus on Kaeng Krachan National Park, the nation's largest in Phetchaburi province. Much less attention was given to another dramatic series of events around the same time affecting ethnic Karen-Thai inside the park. These culminated in raids by park officials in which a total of 90 of their homes and rice barns were burned down. The ethnic Karen and their advocates say the National Parks, Wildlife and Plants Conservation Department is conducting a campaign to drive them out of the park.

BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE: An unidentified man watches as a Karen shelter goes up in flames after being torched by Kaeng Krachan National Park officials. PHOTOS: THE KAENG KRACHAN NATIONAL PARK REPORT AND SUPARA JANCHITFAH

Kaeng Krachan National Park chief Chaiwat Limlikit-aksorn admitted as much last August at a gathering of the Thai Journalist Association (TJA), where he defended the methods of his department to remove the Karen from the park. He said they are destroying the forests with their slash-and-burn farming methods, a charge the Karen deny.