Quote:Politicians linked to forest encroachment

By Theerawat Khamthita

Police are digging deep for clues in its efforts to implicate local politicians and a Chinese businessman in an alleged forest encroachment case in Chiang Saen district. The effort will focus on a 53-year-old Chinese trader named Yian Ping who allegedly used his political connections to get a Thai ID card, under the name of Chanchai Ruayrungrueng, which was then used to buy land in tambon Ban Saew, where the encroachment took place, a source said.

The investigation also led to a joint police-forestry raid in the Sopkok forest reserve near Ban Huay Koyroy village early this week.

The raid team found that 918 rai of forest was encroached and seized 13 trailer-trucks, processed logs, and tree-cutting equipment.

Some of the arrested workers confessed to police they were hired to clear and plough the forest area, but did not name the person who was paying them for the job.

A forestry official said a well-known politician had ordered local leaders to cut down trees in the reserves. The forest land was being cleared for the planting of rubber trees which were in great demand in China, said a security source.

Mr Yian Ping, who was reportedly made chairman of the now-defunct Thai Rak Thai party's branch in China, became a suspect after his Thai name disappeared from the Interior Ministry's database.