Bueng Kalo, a swamp located in Muang district of Uttaradit province is not just a large local swamp. For natives, it has provided and retained water for farm communities and urban areas, as well as served as a source of pride for the province.
The importance of the swamp was reaffirmed in 1991 when Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn visited the province. The Princess reportedly expressed her wish for it to be well preserved for public use.
In addition to this honour, land policy by the authority has seen this ecologically pristine natural feature -- once a sanctuary for migrating birds -- suffer from neglect.
Half of the original total area, about 7,500 rai, has been lost to state developments and the expansion of the local university campus.
This has pitted locals against the government.
In 2015, the Stop Global Warming Association and a group of residents from three tambons near the swamp sued the provincial administration, Rajabhat Uttaradit University and the Agricultural Land Reform Office (ALRO) for encroaching on public land.
Last year, the Administrative Court ruled in favour of defendants, permitting land development to continue.
Yet, the resistance has not gone away.
This month, on Aug 17, the same group lodged an appeal with the Supreme Administrative Court to examine the 2018 ruling, Prasong Uraiwan, chief of Muang district office told the Bangkok Post.
MAP: Once a complete ecosystem where migrating birds visited seasonally, the Bueng Kalo swamp has become run-down as well as having areas filled in by the state ahead of public building construction.
"The encroachment on Bueng Kalo by these state agencies and individuals is a far more serious act than that in the case of Chiang Mai's Doi Suthep land," he said.
"While the construction of the housing project for the regional judicial officials in Chiang Mai was legal, albeit controversial because the project was built on a mountain, the use of Bueng Kalo was unlawful from the moment the swamp was declared Sor Por Kor land," said Mr Prasong.
The problem started when ALRO previously issued an announcement declaring that the swamp area was no longer public land and instead declared it as Sor Por Kor land, which is government land that is transferred for agricultural purposes to needy families in order to give support to landless farmers.
"The office, however, had failed to win approval from the affected communities, the local administration organisation's council, the district office chief and the provincial governor." he said.
"ALRO had leapt to the conclusion that the swamp area wasn't being used by the public, which was totally wrong," said Mr Prasong.
Part of the land in the swamp area served as a major grazing for close to 900 cattle raised by villagers living nearby.
The vast amount of those animals' waste was turned into bio-cooking gas used by families in a village near the swamp.
The successful biogas project had plaudits and made it a site for study tours.
Besides, local villagers valued the swamp's flood draining capabilities and its reservoirs for keeping water for farming.
Urban encroachment: Several provincial administrations and state agencies have annexed ponds and swamps in order to build on.
They feared the loss of the swamp would lead to more floods during the rainy season and more droughts during the dry season.
"After ALRO declared the swamp as Sor Por Kor land, Rajabhat Uttaradit University then had a request approved to part of the area for its new campus which was fenced off to prevent cattle keepers from entering it," said Mr Prasong.
"The university occupies a total of 2,500 rai, 500 rai of which was later reallocated to a number of people who are mostly relatives of teachers there," added Mr Prasong.
More government organisations have followed suit and now occupy another 2,000 rai of the swamp.
Much of the land surrounding Bueng Kalo has already been bought by a group of financiers who were expecting the price of the land to rise after these developments, according to Mr Prasong.
Somsak Homphian, the kamnan (local chief) of tambon Pa Sao, one of the three tambons affected by the university's use of the swamp, has accused the university of making changes to the area that exacerbate droughts and flooding.
"One example was when the university built its own pond and pumped the water from the swamp into the pond," said Mr Prasong.
"Also, despite initially being designed as a floating campus, the university has drained part of the swamp to make room for the construction of its buildings, which obstructs the water flow in the swamp," he said.
Habitat spoiled: The grass fields around the swamp have served as a food source for local buffaloes.
Parinya Buawangpong, director of the office of the rector of the university, however, insisted the university obtained permission legally on July 29, 2009, to use the swamp after it was declared Sor Por Kor land.
"And the total area the university is occupying is 2,000 rai, not 2,500 rai as accused," he said.
As for the impact of the university's construction project on the water management at the swamp and the nearby farmland, the university says it has set up a committee to study the long-term environmental impact of the construction.
"And a 'floating campus' actually means the earth can be filled only to the level of the water surface, not any higher than that. So at eye level, the buildings will be seen standing four-storey tall from the water surface," said Mr Parinya.
The problem at Bueng Kalo swamp is just another example of the threats faced by wetland areas in Thailand.
"The case shows that the authorities do not pay attention to the conservation of wetlands despite such ecosystems being vital for biodiversity as well as flood management and farming," said Hannarong Yaowalers, a conservationist and expert who sits on the Ministry of Natural Resource and Environment's subcommittee on wetland protection and conservation.
He said government officials and provincial officials in Uttaradit ignored the cabinet's 2009 order prohibiting the annexation of wetlands and swamps by state agencies.
"Yet, the Uttaradit provincial officials said the swamp is merely a public water resource which has become run down," Mr Hannarong told Bangkok Post in a phone interview.
Mr Hannarong said the state has become a major factor in the harm that is being done to wetlands all over the country.
The case at Bueng Kalo is just one of many examples.
Another case is Beung Boraphet in Nakhon Sawan province where authorities have landfilled part of the swamp to build more than 20 new office buildings.
The construction of these buildings changed the ecology and prevented natural water drainage which resulted in more floods, he said.
Another case is Beung Si Fai, in Phichit province. In this case, the swamp suffered the same fate after part of it was filled in to construct public office buildings.
"These state officials hardly pay attention to the ecological value of these wetlands," said Mr Hannarong.
"They simply want to use the space and look at natural ponds as potential construction sites. They don't care that these swamps help reduce the severity of floods," he said.
Basins drained: Wetlands in Thailand are vital for absorbing floodwater and their degradation only amplifies the consequences of heavy rain.