Department of Marine and Coastal Resources deputy director-general Sopon Thongdee, accompanied by local officials, leads the operation to reclaim mangrove forest reserve land in Surat Thani. (Photo by Supapong Chaolan)SURAT THANI – Authorities seized more than 500 rai of encroached mangrove forest in Tha Chang district on Thursday. Wissanu Chaengjai, chief of the Mangrove Development Station 13 (Tha Chang), later lodged a complaint with Tha Chang police in order to track down suspects in the land encroachment. Mr Sopon said the department had planned to reclaim about 15,000 rai of mangrove forest land nationwide this year. In Surat Thani, over 1,700 rai of encroached mangrove land had also been reclaimed so far.

Source: Bangkok Post July 21, 2017 03:22 UTC