Bangkok: The Department of National Parks clarified that the officials using slingshots to reforest Thap Lan were not soldiers. The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) has reiterated that the image of Thai officials using a slingshot, which appeared in Cambodian media, is part of a “sky-planting” activity. The department confirmed that the individual in the image is a forest ranger participating in environmental conservation work and is not related to a border mission.

According to Thai News Agency, the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation has clarified the issue of a photo of a camouflaged officer using a large slingshot, which has been linked to the Thai-Cambodian border situation. The person in the photo is a forest ranger, not a soldier, and is performing a reforestation activity as part of an environmental conservation mission. It has no connection to any military mission.

In the case of the Cambodian news page Angkor Fresh, which published a pho
to of a person in camouflage using a large slingshot with the message “Don’t know what their brains are thinking”, which went viral in Cambodian online media, there were observations that it was a Thai military officer simulating the use of a weapon and it may be linked to the border conflict between the two countries.

The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation has issued a statement clarifying that the individual in the photo is not a soldier, but a forest ranger from Thap Lan National Park, dressed in camouflage in accordance with the agency’s work regulations.

This photo was taken on June 18, 2025, at the 4th Floating Forest Planting Festival at Pha Khep Tawan in Wang Nam Khiao District, Nakhon Ratchasima Province. This multi-year nature conservation activity aims to restore forest areas on steep, inaccessible mountains by using large slingshots to shoot seeds of trees such as Makha, Lan, and native plants into the target areas to increase the rate of ecosystem recovery.

The event
was organized through the cooperation of several agencies, civil society organizations, students, and the general public. It is not related to any security mission or military operation as alleged.