Thai protesters call for justice for murdered Karen activist
Porlajee Billy Rakchongcharoen was killed in 2014 allegedly by park officials after leading a campaign against them
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An art installation featuring a man made of plaster buried upside down in a steel drum on display at a protest in Bangkok on Feb. 22 in testament to the way Christian ethnic minority activist Porlajee Rakchongcharoen’s body was disposed of by his murderers in 2014. (Photo: UCA News)
Hundreds of young Thais gathered on Feb. 22 outside a cultural center in downtown Bangkok to demand greater rights for their country’s ethnic minorities in memory of a Christian minority rights activist who was murdered in 2014.
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Four Karen villagers arrested for poaching
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Bang Kloi dispute with park officials deepens
published : 22 Feb 2021 at 20:05
7 Activists hold an event outside Bangkok Art and Culture Centre on Monday against a government attempt to evict indigenous forest dwellers from Kaeng Krachan National Park. (Photo by Wichan Charoenpakul)
Four Karen villagers were arrested by national park officials for allegedly poaching in Kaeng Krachan National Park, just a week after the government launched a dialogue to resolve the ongoing land dispute with the indigenous forest dwellers.
Adviser to the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Yutthaphon Angkinan said the group was arrested for bringing gunpowder and lead balls to a protected reserve, in a crackdown on forest offences in Kaeng Krachan in Phetchaburi s Kaeng Krachan district.
Karen need govt support
published : 16 Feb 2021 at 04:00
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As a working group on the plight of Bang Kloi ethnic Karen villagers evicted from their ancestral land in Kaeng Krachan National Park prepares to start its mission, the Prayut Chan-o-cha government must ensure that all threats and intimidation by state authorities cease and a solution to this long-standing problem is found that is both just and fair.
A group of ethnic Karen decided earlier last month to leave the relocation site, called Bang Kloi Lang or Lower Bang Kloi to travel back to Jai Paen Din village from which they were evicted in 1996 as the state wanted to register the forest complex as a Unesco world heritage site. Many have complained that they did not receive farmland promised by the state, while those that did found their plots barren and unusable without lots of chemicals which goes against their principles of sustainable, enironmentally friendly farming practices.
The government assured that it won't arrest Karen villagers and rights activists who protested outside Government House on Monday, saying it would hold a special meeting this Friday to discuss the villagers' demand to return and live in Kaeng Krachan National Park.