Don’t ditch land reforms
Even though Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has pledged to solve inequality between the rich and poor and even made it one of his administration’s priorities, not much progress has been seen. The plight of the poor does not seem to have changed. It is worse for those poor ethnic groups with no defined territory and those who have lived on land with no formal title deeds for generations — who have been either evicted or face eviction.
Gen Prayut’s promise to resolve land rights issues faced by these underprivileged groups seems to have been stalled, if not completely broken. Representatives of the landless, under the umbrella of the People’s Movement for a Just Society (P-move), wanted to ensure that this military administration would not abandon those promises as they managed to secure a meeting with PM’s Office Minister Ormsin Chivapruck yesterday.
Their gathering speaks louder than words. The military government has not only become half-hearted in its moves to solve the issue but also decided to terminate one of its commitments. After claiming the top administrative power, Gen Prayut pledged to renew a project to grant community land title deeds as well as legislation for a so-called land bank that would provide loans for landless farmers to buy land.
These projects were initiated by the Abhisit Vejjajiva government but eliminated by the subsequent Yingluck Shinawatra administration.
The first of the two projects could help provide collective land ownership to about 400 landless communities nationwide. Meanwhile, a land bank bill could see them receive loans from the state which they could repay in installments, in order to secure land and make a living. But the Prayut administration scrapped the collective land ownership project in 2015 while keeping the land bank legislation effort inactive.
P-move’s representatives yesterday made it clear that inaction and broken promises can no longer be tolerated regarding the conflict over land rights, and urged the government to press forward with both initiatives.
While the regime has failed to deliver on these commitments, its own policy to boost and reclaim preserved areas of forest has made things even worse as it has led to violent evictions of rich and poor in various parts of the country. The government wants such protected areas to make up 40% of the nation’s total land area, up from 31% at present.
The forest reclamation policy has been implemented under Order 66/2557 of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO). It clearly states that the reclamation work must not affect poor, low-income earners and those “landless” people who were there before the order took effect. In reality, local authorities have taken action against both businesses and poor communities.
Thailand’s unequal land distribution is among the worst in the world. Over 80% of land is owned by the richest 10%, while the landless and those who own less than one rai make up 42% of the population. About 10% of the population now live in forested areas. Many communities that received permission, under the collective land ownership project, to stay on the land they have toiled and lived on for generations face eviction. During their gathering in Bangkok, many said they have been forced to sign consent papers to leave their homes, with many of these destroyed and plantations demolished. Some have been charged with trespassing.
The regime must not forget its commitment to land reform — the policy that it pledged at home and boasted of abroad. It must revive the communal land title deeds project, accelerate the land bank bill and freeze the forest reclamation policy while seeking cooperation from local communities.
P-move’s representatives made it clear that inaction and broken promises can no longer be tolerated.