Opponents to the controversial Doi Suthep foothill housing estate for court judges and officials plan to demonstrate at Tha Pae gate in Chiang Mai on August 26 to demand immediate dismantling of the housing units in the carved-out forest.
In its Facebook post on Tuesday, the opponents under the name of ‘Network to Reclaim Doi Suthep Forest” said they expect 2,000 people in Muang district and 1,000 from each of the districts of Chiang Mai to join the demonstration on August 26 with people from Lamphun, Mae Hong Son, Lampang, Phrae, Nan, Phayao, Chiang Rai and other northern provinces also taking part.
The opposition group said that they want the government to enter into an agreement with them for the housing units for judges and officials of the Region 5 Appeals Court must be dismantled immediately.
Earlier last week, Mr Saravuth Benjakul, secretary-general of the Office of Judicial Affairs, said that the judicial board agreed at a meeting in Chiang Rai last week to ask for a plot of land from the Plant Research Centre in Chiang Rai for the construction of the new office and housing units for Region 5 Appeals Court judges and officials to replace the plot at Doi Suthep .
