The Supreme Administrative Court ruled yesterday that six ethnic Karen villagers cannot return to their forest homeland in Phetchaburi's Kaeng Krachan National Park after their houses were burned down by park officers in 2011.
The final verdict stated they did not have any ownership documents for the land they were evicted from and were therefore ineligible to claim ownership or return to live there.
Yet the court ordered former park chief Chaiwat Limlikit-aksorn, one of the defendants, to pay damages of 50,000 baht on average to each of the six plaintiffs within 30 days of the ruling.
The court found Mr Chaiwat was guilty of malfeasance for torching over 100 Karen houses. The villagers have been relocated outside the park in a designated area called Bang Kloi Lang.
Despite this, six of them lodged an appeal to the Administrative Court in 2013 arguing their families had been living in the park for over a century, long before the authorities declared the forest a national park in 1979.
They include 106-year-old Ko-i Meemi, a Karen spiritual leader who was reportedly carried out of his house by officers before it was razed.
Another plaintiff, well-known rights activist Porlajee "Billy" Rakchongcharoen, also failed to show up. He disappeared in 2014 after being released from detention at the hands of the national park's staff after they allegedly found him illegally collecting wild honey there.
Phinnapha Phrueksaphan, the grandaughter-in-law of Mr Ko-i, said the villagers did not want compensation.
"My grandpa will be saddened by this verdict. All he wants is to return to the forest so he can spend his final days there," said Ms Phinnapha, who is Mr Porlajee's wife.
Mr Chaiwat, who looked relieved after hearing the verdict, said the case should serve as a lesson for the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation to help it deal with future cases of trespassing.
"I'm also glad these individuals can no longer live in the national park area," he said.
Many indigenous communities have been declared illegal trespassers and evicted after authorities started declaring forest areas as national parks over three decades ago.