Nong hin: Fifty units were mobilized for a dawn raid operation at Nong Hin, targeting Wat Rom Phothitham. The Department of Forestry, along with a law enforcement team, raided Wat Rom Phothitham in Nong Hin District, Loei Province, to post a notice ordering the temple to vacate the area according to a Supreme Court ruling. This follows the temple's refusal to comply with the court order for over eight years.
According to Thai News Agency, Mr. Patthapong Samittipat, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Forestry, along with Pol. Maj. Gen. Jaroonkiat Panngaeo, Deputy Commander of the Crime Suppression Division, Mr. Kritsakorn Sanitsakdee, Inspector of the National Office of Buddhism, and Mr. Kittikun Butrakun, Deputy Governor of Loei Province, led a force of nearly 200 law enforcement officers to negotiate with Phra Sitthichai Kittiwanthano, the deputy abbot, and the monks of Wat Rom Phothitham in Nong Hin District, Loei Province. They requested that the temple comply with a Supreme Court ruling from 2017, which ordered the defendants (Wat Rom Phothitham) and their associates to vacate the disputed area of over 754 rai of national forest reserve and land reform land (Sor Por Kor), and return the land to the Department of Forestry. Previously, the temple had refused to leave the area, dragging the matter on for eight years.
Operation Dawn at Nong Hin today involved dividing officers into 9 teams. They posted notices from the Department of Forestry requesting individuals to immediately vacate the disputed area, as per the Supreme Court's ruling, at various locations within the temple grounds, which are situated within a national forest reserve and land reform area. The operation proceeded smoothly, with the temple cooperating fully and showing no resistance or obstruction.