Land policy panel set up to manage problems

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 07, 2014
Land policy panel set up to manage problems

The government has established a National Committee on Land Policy to try to efficiently address the country's complex land problems.

The committee was set up on October 14 ahead of the current government’s plan to allocate plots of land that poor landless people can farm and rent cheaply for up to five years or more. 
“If we simply stick to existing laws, the poor will continue to be poor and they will never have land; novel methods are needed,” Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said yesterday. 
He insisted that land plots would be allocated to the landless for use to earn a living only. “They won’t own those plots, they will still belong to the state,” he said.
Prayut said his government was aware of previous problems when some people had sold plots given to them by the state.
This issue was one of farmers’ land problems, according to the government. Other problems include lack of land to make a living on, disputes over land markings, encroachment on prohibited state-owned land, under-use of land, possession of very large plots, unfair distribution of land grants, and mismanagement of land.