Armed law enforcement
officials raid a suspected illegal rubber plantation on the outskirts of
Rayong.
Patcharapol Panrak
Rayong police and Ban Khai politicians raided an illegal rubber
plantation on Phanomsart Hill allegedly started on public land by an
influential figure with connections to organized crime.
More than 20 Nongkrub police, Rayong Internal Security Operations Center
officers, representatives of the Ban Khai Permanent Secretary’s Office,
the director of the Chawae Industrial Corporative, and other politicians
swooped down on the 10-rai plot on Nongbua May 1. Officials confiscated
seven oil tanks used to power heavy saws and two generators.
Nongkrub police Lt. Col. Chaiyadit said authorities had received
numerous complaints that criminal elements were clearing public land and
planting rubber trees in the area. Officers visited the site April 18
and arrested two armed Cambodians using saws. They were charged with
illegal entry into the kingdom and weapons possession.
Two days later, however, a “powerful individual” and
henchmen brandishing AK-47 assault rifles and handguns allegedly
threatened forestry officials and local residents to drop the matter.
Somchai Meesaeng, director of the Chavae Industrial Corporative, said
his firm manages the public land for the government. The plantation was
carved out of 10,000 rai of forest under its protection.
Encroachment on government land, however, carries laughably small
penalties, Somchai said. Therefore, he enlisted ISOC and forestry
officials, as evidence pointed to perpetrators illegally logging trees
and intimidating residents with weapons.
An arrest warrant for the suspect ringleader is being contemplated.
