Thanks Carl, I sure will.
Denise
Denise Lawungkurr Goodfellow
PO Box 71
Darwin River, NT, Australia 0841
043 8650 835
PhD candidate, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW.
Founding Member: Ecotourism Australia
Nominated by Earthfoot for Condé Nast’s International Ecotourism Award, 2004.
With every introduction of a plant or animal that goes feral this continent
becomes a little less unique, a little less Australian.
On 18 Apr 2015, at 8:15 pm, Carl Clifford <> wrote:
> Something to consider if you are thinking of birding in Thailand's National
> Parks.
>
> Carl Clifford
>
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
>> From: " [orientalbirding]"
>> <>
>> Date: 18 April 2015 6:40:08 pm AEST
>> To: <>
>> Subject: [OB] Kaeng Krachan National Park, Thailand
>> Reply-To:
>>
>>
>> I wonder how many birding visitors to Kaeng Krachan National Park,
>> Phetchaburi Province, Thailand, are aware of the unsavoury nature of the
>> human rights issues looming over the park? There are a number of long
>> established Karen villages inside the park. One year ago, as Kong Rithdee’s
>> column in Bangkok Post newspaper of 18 April 2015 reminds us, a Karen rights
>> activist Porlajee Rakchongcharoen, known as “Billy”, who lived in one of
>> these villages, was arrested inside Kaeng Krachan National Park allegedly
>> for the heinous crime of possessing a wild honeycomb and six bottles of wild
>> honey. Park chief Chaiwat Limlikitaksorn said that Billy was released after
>> receiving a warning. But nobody can confirm that Billy was ever again seen
>> as a free man after having been taken into custody by national park
>> authorities. Investigators who examined camera footage confirmed that there
>> were no photographs of Billy being released. Billy has been “disappeared”!
>> Police, family, friends and villagers all searched for Billy in vain. Not a
>> trace was ever found—he was never seen again.
>>
>> It is no secret that Billy was regarded by national park authorities as a
>> troublemaker, having led protests against forced evictions from the forest.
>> In one such eviction, uniformed men in helicopters descended on a Karen
>> village inside Kaeng Krachan National Park and burnt that village to the
>> ground.
>>
>> In an unrelated case, the same park superintendent was also tried, along
>> with four other officials, for the alleged murder of another Karen rights
>> defender, Mr Tabkamol Ob-om in 2011. Mr Tabkamol was shot dead while driving
>> in Phetchaburi (town). Last October the court acquitted Mr Chaiwat and his
>> co-defendants due to “unsubstantial [sic] evidence”. Karen people inside
>> Kaeng Krachan are said now to live in fear of government officials. (Source:
>> Bangkok Post Commentary, 18 April 2015)
>>
>> This has major implications for the Thai authorities, ever chasing the
>> tourist dollar, especially as Kaeng Krachan National Park is being assessed
>> for World Heritage status under the UNESCO World Heritage Convention. The
>> authoritarian Thai government will likely do its best to pretend that all is
>> well in the forest, and that nothing amiss ever happened. Will UNESCO
>> collude in this, and sweep both social and environmental management concerns
>> under the carpet as it has done before in Thailand, at Khao Yai National
>> Park, for example? Or will it this time concede that there are serious
>> concerns over protected area management in Thailand?
>>
>>
>>
>> __._,_.___
>> Posted by:
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>>
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>> more about the Club and its conservation work, and to become a member,
>> please visit www.orientalbirdclub.org
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