We object in the strongest terms to the declaration of Kaeng Krachan Forest Complex (KKFC), the ancestral lands of the Karen people, as a World Heritage Site on 26th July 2021. The World Heritage Committee has set a dangerous precedent by disregarding severe cases of reported human rights violations and history of the Karen people. Further, the very act of the Committee’s adoption of the KKFC as a World Heritage violates the fundamental rights of the Indigenous Peoples living in the area and international human rights law.
Category: Thailand
China poised for Thailand’s solar move
With its factories and investments in Thailand, China will be increasingly important to the Southeast Asian nation’s transition from fossil fuels
Thai tiger population grows
Thailand has at least 177 Indochinese tigers roaming in the wild this year, an increase of 17 from last year, according to the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP).
Kaeng Krachan added to world heritage list despite human rights protests
Before the Unesco decision came on Monday, the “Save Bang Kloi” network went to the Natural Resources and the Environment Ministry in Bangkok. It held the “World Heritage, Blood Heritage” activity and read a statement against the listing, citing at least two deaths of its campaigners. They subsequently threw red paint on the nameplate of the ministry.
Forest evades WHC ‘in danger’ status
Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest Complex has been spared from being put on the World Heritage in danger list. However, the World Heritage Committee (WHC) has asked Thailand to comply with recommendations made by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) at its July 23 meeting and refrain from building new dams in the forest complex.
Thailand launches wildlife campaign against ivory and tiger products
The wildlife trade monitoring network (TRAFFIC), Thailand’s Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation and the United Nations Development Program have jointly launched the ‘Mercy is Power’ campaign to fight the buying and owning of ivory and tiger amulets, ahead of World Tiger Day on 29 July 2021.
National park or treasure?
This national park has been marred with notorious reports of conflicts between state park officials who resorted to heavy-handed measures to evict indigenous Karen villagers from the forest where they had settled for more than a century.
Are we destroyers or creators?
The show, running at Warin Lab Contemporary Gallery from today until Sept 15, presents a hypothesis of the root cause of the air pollution issue, brought on by forest fires, in northern Thailand.
Gas-fired plant to get the nod
Government agencies are set to approve a 1,400-megawatt gas-fired power plant project in Surat Thani this year, replacing two highly contentious coal-fired power plant projects in the southern region.
New analysis reveals global distribution of toxic pollution and climate change
Based on their analysis, the authors went on to create a “Target” list of top-ten countries that could provide maximum returns on any investment for risk reduction based on their risk as well as their structural capacity to enact changes (respectively: Singapore, Rwanda, China, India, Solomon Islands, Bhutan, Botswana, Georgia, the Republic of Korea, and Thailand).