by เดอะจิ๊กุ่ง & Max & ถวิล, The G-Gung, Max, and Tawil
Note: An arial photo of a housing development being built within Doi Suthep National Park caused public outrage. Not only does it scar a forest that is supposedly being preserved, but the houses were being built for judges to live in for free. This highlights that the legal and political system is rigged in favor of the rich. Compare this to 15-year sentence for illegal logging received by a poor couple picking mushrooms in a national forest (they got out after 17 months) or the disappearance (and likely assasination) of community activist Billy Polachan after being arrested for stealing honeycomb in a National Park.The photo sparked protests that were actually successful! The building was halted and protesters are demanding that the land be returned to the wild. Notice the appeal to the royal authority. Not all Thai activists are anti-monarchy.
ประชาชนไม่มีกิน ทั้งหนี้สินยังรุงรัง
Citizens don’t have food to eat, with widespread messy debts
บ้านท่านใหญ่โตจัง อีกทั้งยังได้อยู่ฟรี
Your houses are extremely large, and what is more, you can live there for free!
เงินเดือนก็มากมาย ไม่พอใช้กันหรือนี่
Your salaries are so high! Isn’t this enough to purchase what [you] need?
ปลูกเรือนอยู่ทั้งที เปลืองภาษีประชาชน
Sometimes you build a house to live in, wasting the citizen’s taxes.
ในหลวงให้รักป่า เน้นย้ำมากับทุกคน
The king wants us to love the forest, emphasizing this to us many times
ไยท่านจึงไม่สน ทำให้คนเสื่อมศรัทธา
Why are you not interested that this causes the people to loose faith
ทำตามอำเภอใจ ตัดต้นไม้ทำลายป่า
[If others] copy you doing anything you want, cutting down the trees, and destroying the forest,
ดอยสุเทพหลั่งน้ำตา อนิจจานครพิงค์
Doi Suthep [mountain and National Park] will be flowing with tears. Oh poor pitiful Nakornping