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The Phu Phan mountain ridge is situated in east west direction from Mukdahan
province by the Mekong River to the middle of Isan.
The area is an important rain
catchment area with only small-scale dams.
The natural vegetation of Phu Phan is dry diphterocarpus and only thirty
years ago the low mountains were nearly inaccessible and hosted a diverse
wildlife including tigers, elephants, dear, boar etc.
Twenty-five years ago the area was a so-called 'red-area', where no Thai
official dared to go. After the bloody shooting of students in Bangkok, many students joined the communist forces in the mountains, until amnesty
was given in the beginning of the eighties.
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Above: Satellite photo of the last
forest in eastern Isan. See
MAPS for the
whole Isan area. |
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Nowadays most of the forest is depleted or gone, mainly replaced by tapioca
and sugarcane fields, and since 2004 rubber plantations. Only small areas are
left as pristine forests classified as pa anurak,
National Forest or preservation forest. The other areas are called pa
sa-nguan, which is preservation forest as well, even there is hardly a tree left. After the
exploitation of the forests and construction of roads farmers have moved in
and are now growing cash crops. In parts of the pa sa-nguan preservation forest the farmers have
been given chor phoo koo land rights, which is a land title deed, giving them rights to stay and
grow and to transfer these rights to their children. In other parts farmers
stay with no rights to the land, contributing to a major problem, which is
the same all over Thailand: Landless farmers occupying state owned depleted
forest and up against the policy of the Forestry Department of reforesting
Thailand from now less than 18% to 40%.
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