NAKHON RATCHASIMA: An operation has been launched to suppress illegal felling of protected phayung trees in the Thap Lan National Park, according to a 2nd Army bulletin.
About 100 officials of the Thap Lan National Park, 80 regular soldiers from the 2nd Army and 60 rangers from the 26th Ranger Company are taking part in the operation from June to August.
The operation will focus on areas around the Lam Mun Bon reservoir near Thap Lan forest in June, the Lam Sae reservoir in July and the Lam Plai Mas reservoir in August, the bulletin said. It was unclear why the 2nd Army decided to telegraph the timing and locations of the enforcement actions to would-be illegal loggers.
Support from trained civilians and police in Khon Buri and Soeng Sang districts, where checkpoints have been set up to intercept phayung wood being felled and transported out of the national park, will make the suppression more effective than before, said Pol Lt Gen Tanya Kiatsarn, the 2nd Army commander.
From 2016-2018, the authorities seized a total of 897 phayung wood planks and 351 phayung wood blocks in 113 actions and arrested 477 Cambodian migrants hired by investors to sneak across the border and enter the Thap Lan National Park to illegally harvest the protected wood.