Source : Bangkok Post, Thailand, 03 May '06
By : Bangkok Post
  

Under the plan, highway 304 through the park is to be widened from two to four lanes to facilitate transport between Pak Thong Chai district in Nakhon Ratchasima and Kabin Buri district in Prachin Buri. Built decades ago, the highway is the only shortcut between the Northeast and the Eastern regions.

Mr Damrong said the road project would tear apart the forest complex and seriously damage wildlife habitat.

Many wild animals had been struck by cars and killed on this road, he said, and widening the road would only worsen the situation.

The ongoing construction had adversely affected the ecological system, with many wild animals, including deer and reptiles, killed by heavy machinery working on the project, Mr Damrong said.

''It is a great shame that we cannot protect this world natural heritage site from destructive activities,'' he said.

The World Heritage Committee of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation last year designated the Dong Phaya Yen-Khao Yai forest complex as a natural world heritage site for its rich biological resources and rare tropical fauna and flora.

It is Thailand's second natural world heritage site after Thungyai-Huay Kha Kaeng forest complex.

Surapon Duangkhae, secretary-general of Wildlife Fund Thailand, said the road project had already destroyed about 200 rai of the pristine forest.

It was likely the forest complex would lose its prestigious status if the damage was allowed to continue, he said.

Chaisawat Kittipornpaibul, director-general of the Highways Department, said the widening of highway 304 must go ahead because it is a major route for the transportation of industrial goods and commodities between the northeast and Laem Chabang port in Chon Buri.

He said the department was ready to discuss with forestry experts how to mitigate the environmental impact, but his agency was unlikely to comply with the department's demand to redesign the project because costs would skyrocket.

Nisakorn Kositratna, secretary-general of the Office of National Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning, said the Highways Department was not required to conduct an environmental impact study of the highway 304 project because the work was taking place on an existing road.

Ms Nisakorn said environment officials had found that a number of road improvement projects under the Transport Ministry had caused adverse impacts on the environment and had blocked waterways, causing floods or water shortages in nearby areas.