Srettha hands over long-term leasing rights to 434 farmers in Udon Thani
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin handed over the rights to lease military land in Udon Thani to more than 430 farmers on Monday.
The ceremony was held at Nong Wua So district and is part of a long-term project to give state-owned land on a long lease to farmers in the country.
The project, implemented in cooperation with the Defence and Finance ministries, is titled “Treasury Department Supporting the People”.
In a speech at the ceremony, Srettha said he had made it his government’s urgent policy to give unused military land to landless farmers on long-term leases.
The land held by the armed forces actually belongs to the Treasury Department, he said, adding that he had instructed the Internal Security Operation Command (ISOC) in October last year to work with the Treasury Department to lease its unused land to farmers at low cost.
“I am honoured to hand out land rights to farmers today,” Srettha said. “The Defence Ministry and the armed forces are cooperating with the policy as they have plenty of land.”
The land under the Nong Wua So model covers 10,000 rai (1,600 hectares) under the control of the 24th Army Province and Third Artillery Regiment, which are allowed by the Treasury Department to use 40,000 rai for war exercises and artillery training.
The 10,000 rai allocated to farmers is well away from the artillery fire training range.
A total of 434 families applied for the use of 584 plots of land for farming.
Srettha said the armed forces had sped up the implementation of the policy, leading to the handover on Monday. He said more land rights will be handed to farmers in Nakhon Phanom, Samut Prakan and Kanchanaburi, adding that the Royal Thai Navy and Air Force will also give up land for farmers.
Military sources said land under the rights of the Royal Thai Armed Forces in Ban Kaeng Pralom and Ban Purad villages in Kanchanaburi’s Sai Yok district will also be handed over to farmers soon.
The Royal Thai Navy will, meanwhile, allow poor people to lease its land in Samut Prakan’s Phra Samut Chedi district, while the Royal Thai Air Force will lease out its land near the Nakhon Phanom military airport.
