The Senior Managing Director of Boonrawd Brewery Public Company Limited ( Mr. Santi Bhirombhakdi has recently offered 4 satellite phones to Mr. Chaiwat Limlikhitaksorn, the Chief of the Kaeng Krachan National Park. Phones, worth 200,000 Baht, will be used for monitoring areas within the National Park.
Mr. Chaiwat said that the Kaeng Krachan National Park was often intruded by forest trespassers and illegal hunters. Although the authorities know their whereabouts, it is difficult to contact and coordinate with officers at the headquarters and each checkpoint in the park due to lack of high frequency phones. Thanks to the satellite phones offered by Boonrawd Brewery, authorities and officers will work more effectively and quickly on informing any wrongdoings at all areas inside the National Park.
The Chief of the Kaeng Krachan National Park added that he usually monitored the National Park’s area, using a helicopter to comb and check suspicious points. Common problems found include forest trespass along Thai border made by ethnic minority groups like Karen, Karan and Pakayo. Those who have lived there for quite some time will be allocated some areas to work according to His Majesty the King’s Principles of Self-Sufficiency; those who have just arrived, however, will be asked to move out as many of them are found doing illegal activities, particularly planting marijuana and possessing war weapons. If any incident is reported, the border patrol police will be informed to carry out further action.
“Terms of legal action under the Forest Act done by the authority of the National Park, we’d like to ensure people and groups of human rights activists of our non-violent procedures to deal with the ethnic groups. If we find any unregistered bamboo huts in which nobody lives, we’ll burn them down,” said Mr. Chaiwat. “Any things seized by the officers will be kept as evidence. We’ve been asked to report our work to the committee of human rights from time to time, and we always told them the truth.”
The Senior Managing Director of Boonrawd Brewery Public Company Limited Mr. Santi Bhirombhakdi also said that, on behalf of the company, he was concerned on conservation of Thai forests. Realizing how hard-working the authority of the Kaeng Krachan National Park is for duty of protecting Thai forests, the company is very pleased to offer the satellites phones to facilitate the work in this regard.
