The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) has agreed to file charges of forest destruction against an exploration and production (E&P) firm over petroleum operations in Phetchabun.
According to a statement released by the DSI, investigators plan to summon Eco Orient Resources Thailand Ltd, which has concessions in two districts to hear the charges this month.
The DSI accepted the case in June 2016 after looking into a Forestry Department complaint accusing the firm of cutting down trees in Bo Rang Nua in Wichian Buri district.
The company also faces other accusations, including evading royalty payments, which are being investigated separately.
According to the DSI, Eco Orient Resources Thailand has produced 1.53 million barrels of crude oil with an estimated value of 4.4 billion baht during its operations.
"Regarding the accusations concerning royalties, this is a separate inquiry and the DSI will take legal action if there are irregularities," said the DSI press release.
The company was granted an exploration concession for two petroleum blocks in Phetchabun in 2003, while an operating concession was given in 2009.
Land encroachment is a significant problem in the province.
Last month, the prosecutors dropped three cases in Khao Kho due to insufficient evidence against three "giant buildings" allegedly built illegally on the Khao Kho mountain.
The alleged trespassers have been in conflict with the military since they occupied forest areas and plots of land it handed to landless "volunteer villagers" for their help in the state's fight against the defunct Communist Party of Thailand in the 1960s and 1970s.
According to the source, suspects in the three cases were not prosecuted because they are relatives of the volunteer villagers or co-invested with the latter in land developments. Parts of the areas have been turned into resorts or cleared for tea farming. The land developers used their family and business associations with the villagers to encroach on the areas, the source said.
