Thailand: Hmong Hill Tribes to be Prosecuted After Holding Forest Rangers Hostage

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Thai-ASEAN News Network - Hmong Hill Tribes to be Prosecuted After Holding Forest Rangers Hostage



Hmong Hill Tribes to be Prosecuted After Holding Forest Rangers Hostage

UPDATE : 13 March 2012

The director of the Protected Areas Regional Office 14 in Tak Province is preparing to prosecute a group of Hmong hill tribes for holding a group of forest rangers hostage and demanding a ransom for their release.

The director of the Protected Areas Regional Office 14 in Tak Province, Opas Piensataporn, traveled to visit the area of Ban Klong Noi Forest Protection Unit in Tak's Umphang District.


He conducted an investigation after more than 50 Hmong hill tribes armed with war weapons attacked forest rangers and held them hostage. The tribes were angry that the rangers previously arrested a fellow tribe member for forest encroachment and burning activities.

Opas disclosed that this was not the first time that the tribe members have attacked forest rangers, and that he is cooperating with military officers in taking strict measures in hunting them down and enforcing maximum punishment against them.

One of the officers who was held hostage said that Mae Klong Noi forest rangers have arrested the 28-year-old Hmong hill tribe member named Yeng Achakeeree a day before for forest encroachment and burning activities.

Yeng has been forwarded to the Umphang Police Station, while many Hmong hill tribes in the Mae Klong Noi Village were unsatisfied.

Four rangers have been held hostage in a hut at the end of the village while the tribe members demanded the officers to release their convicted tribe member, Yeng. Military officers and border patrol police have blocked the village and negotiated with them.

After nine hours of negotiation, four rangers have been released. However, they rejected to return the rangers' weapons and radio communication equipment. The officers have finally decided to release Yeng as a way of reciprocation.

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Village raid fails to find abductors of four rangers | Bangkok Post: news

Village raid fails to find abductors of four rangers

• Published: 17/03/2012 at 03:28 AM
• Newspaper section: News

TAK : A 1,000-strong police-forestry task force raided a Hmong village in Umphang district yesterday in search of 11 men suspected of taking four forest rangers hostage last week.

The raid came after arrest warrants were issued for the 11 Hmong tribesmen, who allegedly stormed a forest outpost in Umphang Wildlife Sanctuary on March 11 and abducted the rangers.

They later demanded the release of Yeng Archaikiri, 28, a Hmong villager, who was being held for alleged forest encroachment in exchange for freeing the rangers. The group released the rangers on Monday after the authorities agreed to grant bail to Mr Yeng.

The task force raid yesterday, led by National Parks, Wildlife, and Plant Conservation Department chief Damrong Pidech, failed to find any of the 11 wanted men. A sister of one suspect said her brother had fled with the village headman after being tipped-off about the raid.

She insisted her brother was not involved in the incident.

The officers, however, found weapons and the remains of protected wild animals in several of the suspects' houses.

They also re-arrested Mr Yeng, who has been ordered to pay 18,759 baht in compensation for causing ecological damage in the wildlife sanctuary.

Mr Yeng denied any wrongdoing, saying he grows cabbages on his own land, and not in protected forest areas.

"I didn't do anything wrong. I farm my own land and the village headman will back me on that," he said while in police custody.

Mr Damrong, the department chief, has asked the 1,000-member task force to remain in the area until tensions between forestry officials and the Hmong community ease.

He threatened to relocate the Hmong village if there is a recurrence of last Saturday's incident. "We will not let this [abduction of forest rangers] happen again. Everyone needs to respect the law," Mr Damrong said.

Forest ranger Manee Channoi, who was one of the four hostages, said he and his fellow rangers now fear for their safety following their abduction. He has asked the department to provide them with better weapons for self-defence.

Mr Manee said one of his colleagues was shot and wounded while inspecting a forest encroachment area recently.