Vice Admiral Suchart Thammapitakwet, Commander of the Royal Thai Navy Third Area Command at Panwa was informed of the raid on Friday (Nov 17).
Leading the DSI officers was Pol Maj Nimit Promma, Deputy Director of the DSI’s Natural Resources and Environmental Litigation Division.
The party were searching the forest for illegal permanent structures when they found the illegal logging operation near Soi Bang Ma Lao 11, in Moo 7, Sakhu, said the report.
At the site, officers found some jackfruit trees and the remains of large trees that had been cut down. Six of the trees cut down were protected species, the report noted.
From the nature of the wood processing found at the site, it is likely that there were many culprits involved and it is believed that the operation was being financed, the report added.
The report neglected to mention what action was being taken to track down the culprits, but did advance the Navy’s claim to the forest and its role in protecting it “to protect Phuket International Airport, to protect Phuket Province, a world-class tourist destination and special economic zone in the Andaman Sea waters”.
The report by the Navy also pointed out that DSI Deputy Director-General Pol Capt Piya Raksakul had revealed that the DSI had received a complaint of encroachment on the Bang Khanun National Forest Reserve, as the area is officially called.
“It is a special case covering the entire area. The duty of the investigating officer is to prove the guilt of those who encroach on the area, and it is the duty of the special case investigator to reveal the truth as to who, if anyone, has committed the crime of invading areas and destroying the country’s resources,” the report said.
“Bang Khanun Forest is a security area that belongs to every Thai person and cannot be given to any one person as owner. The discovery of crimes committed in deforestation in the area is a violation of public rights that affects public order and good morals.
“It causes damage to important upstream resources which will cause suffering to the people on Phuket Island. It is considered an act of outrageous conduct with no fear of the law. Therefore, there must be an investigation and the perpetrators will be punished according to the law,” the report said.
The report made no mention of the ongoing controversy regarding the Royal Thai Navy being granted to use all 3,700 rai of the protected forest to create a new home for the 22nd Anti-Aircraft Battalion, the 2nd Anti-Aircraft Regiment, the Anti-Aircraft Command Unit, an Air Defense and Coastal Defense Center and the 4th Naval Police Battalion of the Naval Police Department.
At last report, Phuket provincial officials are working on creating a map showing exactly which areas are occupied in the protected forest, and what the claimants rights to those areas are.