PM may use Article 44 to tackle land encroachers

ALRO secretary-general Sansern Ajjutamanas said as Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister General Chatchai Sarikulya had approved the proposal and forwarded it to Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam and Prayut, the crackdown order was expected to be implemented in the middle of this month. 

He said it would target illegal holders of some 500 plots of at least 500 rai (80 hectares) covering 500,000 rai.

Sansern claimed that Prayut had initially agreed in principle to the ALRO’s guidelines on land reclamation and allocating plots to farmers, as seen in Uthai Thani province. 

He said the premier had instructed Chatchai to do more under the initiative this year, and Chatchai instructed the ALRO to work on the details for using Article 44 in this matter for the proposal. 

He said the office was making a list of the landholders. The map of such land plots would be sent to the respective provincial governors to post in the areas.

Sansern said the land – such as some Surat Thani oil palm plantations, some Chachoengsao eucalyptus plantations and resorts in Ranong, Chaiyaphum and Loei – would be reclaimed and allocated to poor farmers if the landowners couldn’t prove their legitimate ownership within 45 days. 

Soldiers would immediately demolish structures built on land where occupants could not prove their ownership rights.

The move stems from the “Wang Nam Khieo model” in Nakhon Ratchasima province that was used to tackle encroachers who abused ALRO land ownership granted to poor farmers.

The five-tambon 706,000-rai Wang Nam Khieo district saw some 2,000 ALRO landholders – about 34 per cent out of the area’s 6,412 ALRO landholders covering 240,000 rai – break the law. 

In the Wang Nam Khieo |cases, Sansern said the ALRO had surveyed the land occupation and discussed sustainable solutions with the people . 

Sansern said the office would allow existing landholders who were farmers to continue using the lands for “other activities that support ALRO purposes” such as agro-tourism with accommodation. 

In return, he said, farmers would engage in a land-right identification process to get the permission for other activities, pay rent, agree to not pass land onto their heirs and keep the agency informed on land use and any land transfers.

He said 50 illegal homestays and 62 illegal resorts would be reclaimed so the Treasury Department could collect rent. 

Ten people connected to the illegal buildings are facing lawsuits.

Aerial photos would be used every four months to check what the land is being used for, Sansern said.

Sansern said the process was done faster under Article 44 than under the land reform law, which required court procedures that lasted years.

If farmers resisted, the ALRO would demolish the structures, he added.