As the #SaveThapLan hashtag continues to trend on social media, locals who made their homes in its forests long before Thap Lan National Park was established argue that they are the ones who need saving.
“I lived here long before my land became part of a national park,” said 79-year-old Cha-on Jongponklang.
Established in 1981, Thap Lan is Thailand’s second-largest national park, spanning Nakhon Ratchasima and Prachin Buri provinces. It serves as a vital anchor for the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest Complex.
However, it also lies at the heart of one of Thailand’s fiercest and longest-running land battles.
One side of the dispute wants to keep the park’s 2,236 square kilometres entirely intact, while the other wants homesteads absorbed inside the park boundaries to be returned to their original owners.
The momentum has now swung in favour of the forest-dwellers after the National Park Committee resolved last month to cut more than 155,000 rai (about 250 sq km) from the protected area.
The park covers more than 1.3 million rai, but alleged mapping errors left thousands of villagers living in a legal grey zone, suddenly branded as “encroachers” overnight. This designation meant they were unable to secure official land titles, expand their farms or even pass property down to their children without the constant threat of prosecution.
Giving back to rightful owners?
To settle the overlapping claims, the National Park Committee initially considered removing 265,000 rai around the park’s boundaries. However, the proposal drew a fierce public backlash led by conservationists.
The Natural Resources and Environment Ministry then launched a public consultation, which saw a majority of the 880,000 respondents voice opposition to the plan.
In response, the National Park Committee decided on June 15 to return 155,865 rai of land to the previous owners, including Cha-on. The committee said disputes over the remaining disputed land would be settled on a case-by-case basis within six months.
The returned plots include areas originally allocated for landless farmers, resettlement villages, security projects and military drills. These plots were absorbed when the national park boundaries were first drawn 45 years ago.
“We simply drew the boundaries based on images showing forested land, without worrying too much about who might already be living there,” recounted former Royal Forest Department director-general Pong Leng-ee, who played a key role in mapping Thap Lan National Park.
“If it later turned out that communities were being affected, we figured we could resolve those issues later. The priority was to move quickly. … I needed to ensure the area was protected first before dealing with any objections. We didn’t really look into who had been there before.”
Asst Prof Dr Chainarong Setthachua, who teaches humanities at Mahasarakham University, said Thap Lan’s establishment caused problems for many people because its boundaries were drawn using only aerial imagery.
“The park inadvertently included established communities and agricultural-reform land, not just lush, untouched forest,” he said.
Cha-on lives in a Thai Samakkee (Thai Unity) resettlement village in Nakhon Ratchasima’s Wang Nam Khieo district. He moved there decades ago when the government offered 10 rai of land per family to encourage settlement, creating model communities designed to combat the threat of communism.
“As many as 214 families moved there,” he recounted. His village won an official development award in 1980, which serves as clear proof that the community was there well before the park.
Cha-on, who grows cucumbers on his plot, said he has no major issues with wildlife despite animals occasionally straying on to his farm.
“I see wild boar and deer from time to time,” he said.
He also dismissed concerns that locals might sell their plots to wealthy investors, noting that community elders remain deeply rooted to their land, even if the younger generation has little interest in farming.
“The authorities should speak directly to the affected people so they can explore solutions together,” he said.
P-Move, the People's Movement for a Just Society, maintains that forest preservation can go hand in hand with community rights. It urged all sides, including the government, to collaborate on practical guidelines for jointly managing and utilising local resources.
“People don’t need to be evicted to protect the forest,” the group said. However, it emphasised that authorities must draw a line between land speculators and small-scale farmers whose lives are deeply rooted in the area.
Waiting in hope
Pinkaew Hermkhuntod, 66, said she was delighted to hear that the state will return plots to their historical owners.
“I lived here before the national park was even established,” she said, adding that she had proof in the form of old tax receipts.
However, she fears she will have to produce many more documents to prove ownership, as her property falls within the 109,000 rai that remains under review. This land was not part of the state’s agricultural reform project for landless people.
Pinkaew occupies a plot of just over 4 rai within Thap Lan – a holding that has caused her immense legal trouble. In 2012, she was prosecuted on encroachment charges.
Pinkaew spent 500,000 baht to defend herself in court. The legal battle dragged on for 14 years, but ultimately she lost the case and was ordered to pay a fine of 200,000 baht.
With her life savings exhausted, she is now struggling to pay off the fine in monthly instalments of 3,000 baht. She previously ran a restaurant, a hostel and a small farm on the plot. Now, stripped of her land, she is scrambling to earn a basic living.
Is the forest threatened?
Conservationists are deeply concerned that the National Park Committee’s latest move may set a dangerous precedent, opening the door for other national parks to hand back protected land to local claimants.
Celebrities like Engfa Waraha and Siranudh “Psi” Scott have been promoting the #SaveThapLan hashtag on social media to amplify these concerns.
The Seub Nakhasathien Foundation has also fiercely protected the park, reminding the public that it is a critical sanctuary for endangered wildlife including tigers, elephants and gaurs.
“Over the past five years, tigers and elephants have been sighted in the very zones that have just lost their national park status,” the foundation’s chairman Panudet Kerdmali said.
By Thai PBS World’s General Desk
