Suspects wanted for serious crimes, including fugitive gunmen for hire and drug dealers, are reported to be hiding in parts of the Nan River National Park straddling Phrae and Uttaradit provinces in the North, according to park chief Navarerk Hengkathok, as reported by Khaosod Online.
Mr Navarerk said this while leading a team of park officials to survey villagers from Uttaradit and other provinces who have built floating houses in the park's reservoirs for fishing.
He said these people have felled trees in the national park to build raft houses and they are partly responsible for increasing forest destruction and also are hunting wild animals. Their numbers have quickly increased, he added.
The Nan River National Park covers an area of 624,468 rai in Muang district of Phrae and Tha Pla district of Uttaradit. It is a mountainous area with dense forests with many kinds of protected trees.
Forest and wildlife poaching is rampant in the area. Protection of natural resources and suppression of poaching is difficult due to shortage of manpower and equipment, Mr Navarerk said.
"We have lately obtained reports from police and administrative officials that areas deep inside the Nan River National Park have become a hiding place for criminals wanted in serious cases, including gunmen for hire and drug dealers.
"We park officials have no authority to take action against these people, who are said to be armed with modern weapons," he said.
Mr Navarerk called for a peace-keeping force under martial law, comprising soldiers and police, to look into this matter.
He said it is necessary that the authorities keep a register of people making their living inside the national park, particularly in areas around the edge of the reservoir of the Sirikit dam, for security reasons.