PHETCHABURI: Ko-ee Mimee, a Karen centenarian died at the age of 107 early yesterday morning, two months after finally being granted Thai citizenship. However, he failed to win a long legal battle to return home to the heart of Kaeng Krachan National Park.
Ko-ee Mimee in a village where he was forced to stay against his will.
He died at 4.14am of a lung infection at Phra Chom Klao Hospital in Muang district after being admitted there on Sept 30. He was unable to eat and subsequently lost consciousness.
Born in 1911 in the forest where Phetchaburi and Ratchaburi provinces merge, Ko-ee had worked as a hunter and a guide for visitors from Bangkok who loved trekking and hunting. He gave up hunting after the wildlife protection law was enacted.
After his birthplace became part of Kaeng Krachan National Park in 1981 amid the promulgation of the National Parks Act that year, Ko-ee and other Karen ethnic villagers lost their right to stay there and were branded as illegal trespassers.
Because Thailand later nominated Ka eng Kr ac hanasaUn es co World Heritage site, the old man and his neighbours were forcibly evicted by park officials.
Shortly after being resettled, Ko-ee and the others returned because they could not make a living in their new settlement.
In a raid in 2011, the park team burned down 90 homes and rice barns while evicting Karen villagers from the national park for alleged encroachment.
