100 families forced off land, huts demolished

Some 100 people and five tractors sent by a land investor yesterday demolished shacks on 100 rai in Ban Pakdi Charoen-Ban Khok Jakjan Road in Amnat Charoen’s Muang district. The shacks were built by 100 families belonging to the Four Region People Network.
The plot, which became the property of the Thai Asset Management Corporation (TAMC) when it assumed a non-performing loan from a bank, had been occupied by network members seeking to prevent the TAMC from re-selling it. Businessman Surapong Thongdee and relatives bought the land and asserted their rights to it before leading 100 people and five tractors to demolish the shacks. The network members went to file a police complaint at Muang Amnat Charoen police station but the demolition went ahead and the network members left the land.