TAK: Three large tracts of woodland -- about 45 rai altogether -- were found to have been encroached on inside the Mae Sot National Forest Reserve in Phop Phra district, according to a local media report.
The encroachment was reported to the 6th Forest Protection Unit in Mae Sot district by local villagers.
On Saturday, forest protection officials were dispatched to an area near Moo 7, Ban Pakha Kao, in tambon Khirirat of Phop Phra district to investigate.
They found the trees in three large tracts of land, covering about 45 rai, had been cut and burned by encroachers, obviously to illegally occupy the area for shifting cultivation.
The officials gathered all evidence of the encroachment and later filed a complaint with Phop Phra police for further legal action.