National parks hope to draw on earnings to help indicted rangers
By The Nation

 

BANGKOK: -- The Department of National Parks, Plant, and Wildlife Conservation is looking for ways to amend a related Act following recent reforms, so it can withdraw from its earnings to pay for the legal costs of rangers who were indicted while on duty, Chalermchai Papatha, the department’s deputy chief, said.

 

He said the department’s chief Thanya Netithammakul urged reformers to amend the old Act and related regulations, so the department can draw on income generated from entrance fees to support the cause. 

 

Currently, there are no legal channels allowing it to draw on its earnings for this purpose, he said.

 

The department is considering this issue because four of its rangers in Mae Yom National Park were recently indicted over a clash with villagers during a logging-suppression operation in 2011, which resulted in two villagers getting killed and some others injured. 

 

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DNP should pay for the costs of professional anti-poaching training which is currently paid for by conservation NGOs so offenders are caught and go to jail rather than shot.  However, as some poachers are armed and dangerous the policy for dealing with their incursions into national forests should be a strong deterrent.