RAYONG, 07 September 2015, (NNT) – Provincial Administrative, military, and police officials in Rayong on Sunday joined forces to reclaim encroached forest land, removing illegal structures and rubber trees in the area.
Having received reports of forest encroachment, Rayong Deputy Governor Pinyo Prakorbphol on Sunday led the team to reclaim the encroached land in the province’s national forest linking Ban Khai and Wang Chan districts, where they found several dwellings and rubber trees.
The team proceeded to remove the dwellings and rubber trees and used the felled trees to block the road leading to the protected woods. The area of Rayong’s national forest is approximately 330,000 rai, about 20 percent or 65,000 rai of which has been dedicated for agricultural purposes for underprivileged farmers.
According to officials, they ordered encroachers to remove their dwellings and move out of the forest area since October last year. However, some chose to ignore the officials’ order.
Officials initially gave the occupants in the area 10 days to move out of the encroached land and that they would return to remove any structures found in the area in order to begin a reforestation process. Illegal occupants who have no place to live have been urged to contact Rayong Provincial Administrative Office for assistance.
