Efforts to combat forest fires in Sri Nakarin Dam National Park in Kanchanaburi are facing challenges as officials have encountered resistance from an apparent cult engaged in setting small blazes.
Attapol Charoenchansa, director-general of the National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, visited the park on Saturday to meet with firefighters and discuss strategy after they encountered a collective living in the forest.
The group has reportedly barred officials from entering their village and has been responsible for igniting numerous fires.
Initially, officials discovered scattered sources of smoke after inspecting hotspots found through aerial surveys.
The hotspots coincided with reports of a community in the deep forest setting small blazes.
Arriving to put out the fires, officials were met with a large sign claiming that the village was empowered by a constitutional rule in 1963 to erect the notice and to use deadly force against state agents attempting to remove it.
Further inspection revealed a man, dressed in cleric-like robes and black beads, impeding the officials’ progress. Administrative and military officers have been called on to assist in engaging with the community.
According to reports, the collective has some 50 members who subscribe to cult-like practices, including the setting of fires around their encampment to “ward off other fires”.
Officials dispatched to engage with the community have been told to avoid any violence and to seek an understanding of the need to cease the deliberate ignition of fires.
Last week, the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (Gistda) reported that almost 6,000 hotspots were detected in neighbouring countries, with at least 4,000 of them located in Cambodia.
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