National Park officials in Chiang Mai have accused three ethnic Lahu villagers of encroaching into a protected area and assaulting the authorities while the villagers say the authorities beat them. 

 

Pa-ae Kirirasami, 57, Witoon Kiriratsami, Pa-ae’s 22-year-old son, and Jakui Japalo, 37, are farmers and villagers of Hui Nok Kok Village, Fang District, Chiang Mai. The Doi Pha Hom Pok National Park authorities accused Pa-ae of encroachment into the protected area and accused all three of assaulting the officials while on duty on 17 July 2015.

 

The three denied all allegations and were released on 100,000 baht bail each, sponsored by the Justice Fund under the Justice Ministry. 

 

The Fang District Court scheduled the preliminary hearing on 16-19 August 2016, according to the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights.

 

Pa-ae, the religious leader of the village, told Prachatai in May 2015 that he was beaten by the authorities and broke his right ring finger and had to have six stitches on his skull.  

 

On that day, Pa-ae went to check the irrigation system of the village. When he ran into some National Park officials, he ran away. He said the officers caught him and beat him on the head. Later his son and other villagers came to rescue him and tried to take him to the hospital. The National Park officials instead allegedly blocked and surrounded the villagers. The situation became tense and both sides engaged in a brief clash. The incident ended when the military came to impose law and order at the request of the National Park officials. 

 

Pa-ae has farmed in the area for more than 20 years. 

 

The ethnic Lahu live in Fang, Chai Prakan, Mae Ai and Chiang Dao districts in Chiang Mai and Mae Sai district in Chiang Rai. They are mainly farmers, growing rice and lychee on protected area without title deeds. The hill minority say they lived and farmed in the area long before the national parks were announced.  

 

The Return the Forest policy of the junta’s National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), which aims at reclaiming protected areas, has greatly affected Lahu villagers. 

 

The ethnic Lahu, most of whom do not speak Thai, have been victims of abuse by Thai authorities for about a decade. During the War on Drugs in 2003, a policy of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, the Lahu were victims of enforced disappearance and torture by the Thai military as the policy intensified the unfair treatment of the Lahu based on stereotypical assumptions that hill minority people are involved in crimes such as drug trafficking, deforestation and land encroachment. According to Lahu Association President Sila Jahae, more than 20 Lahu have suffered enforced disappearance at the hands of army rangers and police officers. No officials have ever been brought to justice.