The Royal Forest Department has pressed charges against two zipline operators in Chiang Mai for encroaching on forest land, and accused one of them of illegally using land belonging to a royal project.
Representatives from the department and police officers visited the operators -- Monjam Zipline and Flying Squirrels -- in Mae Rim district on Thursday.
The department has been investigating businesses in the area recently due to suspicions that popular zipline operators may have been violating regulations, for example by building substandard facilities or failing to obtain legal permits.
One operator in Phuket was arrested in July for encroaching on a national park that is off limits for all businesses.
The initial probe into Monjam Zipline found it may have encroached on the Mae Rim National Reserved Forest and Nong Huay Royal Project.
Construction was also deemed to be below acceptable standards and done in such a way that blocked natural water flows, according to Attapol Charoenchansa, deputy chief of the Royal Forest Department.
"This operation has violated two laws so we need to take legal action," said Mr Attapol, who also serves as a director of the Forest Protection Operation Centre.
The laws he alluded to were the National Reserved Forest Act (1964) and the Building Control Act (1979).
The department decided to press charges against Flying Squirrels for encroaching on Mae Rim National Reserve Forest.
Police have received many complaints about illegal zipline businesses located deep inside forested areas, according to Lt Gen Surachet Hakpan, acting deputy chief of the Tourist Police Division.
Most lack construction and operating permits, he said, adding that shoddy construction work is dangerous and has led to a spike in accidents.
Lt Gen Surachet cited the example of a US tourist in 2015 who was permanently blinded in one eye after she collided with another person while sliding down a zipline in Chiang Mai.
Twelve illegal zipline operators have been identified in Chiang Mai, seven of which have faced charges of illegal forest encroachment, said Cheewapab Cheevatham, head of the department's Payak Prai special operations team.
Another three were ordered to demolish their substandard constructions, he said.
Mr Cheewapab said the authority is trying to work with local communities that reside deep in forested areas, asking them to keep a watchful eye for cases of possible illegal land encroachment and to report any zipline operations, legal or otherwise, that are potentially dangerous.
