Reporter Shot Over Phang Nga Stories

Source: Reuters

By Nopporn Wong-Anan

BAN NAM KHEM, Thailand, June 21 (Reuters) - Journalist Manop Rattanacharungporn has no doubt the gunshot wound in his leg was a direct result of his stories on illegal land grabs in tsunami-hit Thailand. "I don't know exactly who wanted to kill me, but they must have thought that everything would be over after I was dead," Manop told Reuters in a hotel room guarded by two plainclothes policemen.

The veteran journalist had been investigating illegal land grabs by criminal groups in Phang Nga province, where most of Thailand's 5,395 deaths occurred, when he was shot outside his home on June 1.

Reporters Without Borders, the Paris-based press freedom group, condemned the attack "apparently in reprisal for his reporting on illegal land appropriations".

Police say they are still investigating the incident, which Manop believes was intended to send a signal to anyone probing land grabs by criminal gangs, powerful businessmen and politicians.

"Public land or forests in every district in Phang Nga are being encroached on by local mafias and national politicians," said Manop, who has covered the province for 21 years.

Phang Nga began its transformation from an old tin mining region into a tropical paradise a few years ago, its unspoiled beaches at Khao Lak and tranquil forests rivalling its overdeveloped neighbour Phuket, the country's main tourist island.

The Dec. 26 tsunami killed thousands on Khao Lak as it swept through luxury hotels and fishing villages dotting 30 km (20 mile) of coastline.

The Bangkok government has promised to help the region rebuild and tales abound of politics and commerce ganging up to push tsunami-devastated fishermen and villagers off lucrative plots of land in anticipation of a tourism rebound.

DEATH THREATS

Some landlords have filed lawsuits against squatters who moved onto forgotten plots years ago and eventually became legal owners under Thai law.

In the devastated fishing village of Ban Nam Khem, Lamai Rodson -- who lost her husband, two fishing boats and a house -- said she and 70 other residents were feeling the heat from two companies seeking to reclaim the land and build a pier.

Lamai, 48, has lived on her 3-acre (1.2-hectare) plot on an abandoned mine site since 1972 and won a court ruling that upheld her rights to the land in 1994.

But she says gangsters have made death threats against the group and a fresh lawsuit has prevented her family from receiving any government or private aid.

"I can't get a new house from the government or even from generous Westerners because my land is still problematic," said Lamai, who lives with her two sons who earn meagre wages from construction work.

On Phi Phi Island, the idyllic paradise made famous by the cult movie "The Beach", residents say the threat of a massive land grab appears to have petered out.

John Heike, a British dive shop operator on Phi Phi, said a consortium of powerful private investors believed to be planning to buy up the entire island for hotel development seemed to have backed off.

"I think they realised they were in for a real fight," Heike said. Residents were still awaiting government permission to rebuild their properties and businesses, although there now appeared to be nothing sinister behind the delays, he said.