CHIANG MAI: Authorities moving in to demolish five resorts in the popular mountainous "sea of clouds" tourist area of Mon Cham were confronted by angry villagers on Monday.
The tense standoff was reported as a combined force of about 400 officials from the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry, administrative officials and crowd control police officers were deployed in anticipation of resistance from local villagers with the demolition work set to begin on Monday morning.
An investigation by authorities found the five resorts in Mae Rim district had defied Forestry Act rules governing land use. Ownership of the land was also alleged to have changed hands from farmers to business proxies.
The farmers who opposed the demolition came from 12 villages in Muang, Hang Dong and Mae Rim districts. They called on the authorities to halt the dismantlement until the provincial court makes its decision.
Leading the demolition squad was Samphan Phutduang, director of the Chiang Mai forestry office, who stated that the Royal Forest Department has approved the removal of the five resorts located within a conserved watershed zone.
Due to the protest, the squad had pondered a change of plan. Instead of dismantling all five resorts at the same time, it was thinking about taking them down one by one.
However, the combined force was monitoring the protest closely, fearing the villagers might close in on the officers and surround them.
The standoff came after the local forestry unit surveyed Mon Cham mountain and discovered that 36 resorts had been illegally built there. Their owners were sought for prosecution for expanding without permission while others had sold their businesses to people - including foreign nationals - in violation of the legal terms governing occupation of the hill's land.
Of the 36 resorts that were taken to court, four cases required a judge's decision.
According to Mr Samphan, 10 of the 36 resorts had earlier voluntarily removed the buildings on their properties.
He said the department had given the owners a fair chance to fight their case, having first issued writs in 2020.
Another 86 resorts not facing charges under the Forestry Act were being investigated for possible breach of the Building Control Act and Hotels Act, Mr Samphan added.
It was reported the protesters were still standing their ground as of yesterday evening. They were also mobilising more people to join the protest.
The authorities said they were taking care not to create a pretext for clashes with the protesters.