Chaiwat Limlikhit-aksorn, an official in hot water over his alleged involvement in the forceful removal of Karen villagers a decade ago, on Friday cried foul over a PACC board recommendation to have him barred from civil service.
The Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) board earlier this week reportedly decided to recommend that the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment dismiss Mr Chaiwat and five other park officials from their current positions over the burning of the homes of about 100 Karen residents living in Kaeng Krachan Park in Phetchaburi in 2011.
The PACC reportedly said it would also forward the case to public prosecutors.
Mr Chaiwat, former chief of the park, yesterday slammed the PACC for carrying out an "armchair" investigation against him, saying none of its anti-graft investigators probed the site.
He said he had asked the PACC to visit the site and collect evidence when he was questioned. However, he said the probe instead relied heavily on witness statements.
"Is this fairness?" Mr Chaiwat, currently director of the Protected Areas Regional Office 9 in Ubon Ratchathani, said.
"As standard practice, investigators must inspect the site and see if the coordinates are as accurate as they appear in the case," he said.
"Have [the PACC] done that? Have they compared photo evidence with the actual site?"
In a 2011 media interview, Mr Chaiwat admitted to the torching, but said he had done so after warning the villagers several times over their alleged involvement in marijuana and with Karen rebels in Myanmar.
The Central Administrative Court had ordered the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation to compensate the villagers after their homes were burned down.
Meanwhile, Netnapa Ngamnet, assistant to the current Kaeng Krachan National Park chief, told the media on Friday that she filed a charge against those who slashed and burned more than 154 rai of forest land there.
The decision to file the charge came after a national park team early this week surveyed the area and found the scorched land, she said.
She said the location is close to an area being disputed by Karen villagers who wish to return to their ancestral land. She said the area is an important source of water.