Lawsuits aggravate forest poor's plight

A gigantic tree in a lush Uttaradit forest, where locals engage in agroforest orchard farming in the national forest with support from provincial authorities. (Photo by Sanitsuda Ekachai)

The polluters must pay. Most definitely. But when state authorities encroach on indigenous peoples' customary land, send them to jail for living in "protected" forest and -- on top of that -- demand exorbitant compensation for causing global warming, this is not the "polluters pay" policy. This is oppression beyond being unjust. It's pure malice.

Since 2005, the Department of National Parks, Wildlife, and Plant Conservation (DNP) has been slapping the forest poor with so-called "global warming" civil lawsuits, demanding steep financial compensations to crush them.

It is estimated that more than 1,000 indigenous people and agroforest farmers across the country have been sued for causing global warming in addition to being arrested for living in state-owned forests.