Govt has failed to solve land inequity
The government's failure to resolve land problems has led to farmer's poverty, a seminar held by the Land Reform Network and Local Action Links was told yesterday.
The seminar, entitled “Government and its One Year to Solve Land Problems and Agricultural Structure: A Step Forward or Back?”, was held at the Thai Journalists Association.
“The government has done nothing to solve land problems as it had promised at the House last year,” Pongthip Samranjit of Local Action Links said, adding that large swathes of land were still mostly owned by wealthy people.
According to a recent survey, 421 politicians own more than 27,000 rai, with some individuals owning over 2,000 rai.
Last year, the government announced its policies in the House, saying it would solve land problems by creating fairness and eliminating inequity of landownership among farmers. It said that it would also distribute land to poor people.
“A lot of poor people living in areas that overlap forest reserves who were waiting to prove their land rights were arrested by the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation [DNP],” Pongthip said. She said the DNP had destroyed rubber plantations belonging to people in Trang’s Khao Ban Thad Mountain despite them having community title deeds.
“Instead of solving problems, the government created a conflict among the locals by cracking down on those living in areas overlapping forest reserves,” she said.
Associate Professor Somchai Preechasilpakil, a law lecturer of Chiang Mai University, said no government in the past has done anything to resolve land problems, especially for the 1.5 million people living in areas overlapping forest reserves.
