Phuket police pursue 64-year-old man over Monkey Hill forest encroachment
Phuket City Police said a complaint filed on June 11 led to the prosecution of a 64-year-old man over alleged encroachment on protected forest land at Khao Toh Sae, or Monkey Hill.
Phuket City Police said a complaint filed on Thursday, June 11, has led to the prosecution of Supachai Jaisomkom, 64, over alleged occupation and use of land inside the Khao Toh Sae National Forest Reserve and permanent forest area.
Police said the alleged encroachment was discovered during an inspection by officers from Phuket Forest Protection Unit 2 on Jan. 31, 2025. Officials found extensive clearing of undergrowth at the site, along with signs of both old and recent land-clearing activity.
Authorities also found a raised single-storey shelter with a steel frame and corrugated iron roof measuring about six metres by five metres, a steel-framed toilet measuring 1.5 metres by 1.5 metres, and a 2,000-litre water tank used to collect rainwater. No one was at the site during the inspection.
Forest officers recorded 11 coordinate points using a government GPS device and compared the data with official 1:50,000-scale maps. The survey found that 3 rai, 2 ngan and 61 square wah of the occupied land was inside the forest reserve, while another 3 ngan and 54 square wah was in permanent state forest land. The total encroached area measured 4 rai, 2 ngan and 15 square wah.
Police said the occupation, land clearing and construction amounted to violations of laws governing national forest reserves, including unauthorised possession, use and degradation of protected forest land.
The case was registered at Phuket City Police Station as Criminal Case No. 856/2026. Investigators said they gathered evidence and identified Mr Supachai as the alleged offender before proceeding with legal action.
He faces charges of occupying, possessing, using or residing on land within a national forest reserve, as well as clearing forest land and carrying out activities that degrade protected forest areas without official permission.
Phuket City Police Superintendent Col Chatree Chukaew has instructed investigators to pursue the case according to the law and to continue monitoring encroachment in order to protect state forest land and natural resources.
