Phuket 'encroachers' torch Chalong work camp

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Phuket 'encroachers' torch Chalong work camp
Eakkapop Thongtub


The bike is set alight.

PHUKET: -- A work camp in Soi Pa Lai, Chalong, opposite the Pong Pang Seafood restaurant, was attacked twice yesterday (June 1) by people opposed to the land being cleared. In the second attack the camp was torched.

The attacks were made on a small work camp established to temporarily house people hired to clear the 83-rai site.

The confrontation began over land rights, with the four owners of the land wanting to clear it for use by a tenant, but local people already living on the land – illegally by all accounts – being unwilling to move.

The owners had their lawyers post notices telling people on the land to prove that they had ownership papers, or leave.

The alleged encroachers became enraged, and yesterday vented their feelings in the most emphatic way.

At about midday, a group of men came onto the site and fired guns, including at least one shotgun, to frighten off the workers. They also tried to set fire to a six-wheel truck, but the workers managed to stop the fire before it could take hold.

At about 5:30pm, 60 or 70 people, both men and women, gathered at the site, some armed with petrol bombs which they threw at the camp. A container was partly damaged, along with a tent, and a motorbike was destroyed. Luckily, no one was injured.

The authorities, including the police, were called to put a stop to things before they escalated any further.

Unable to identify who fired the shots or lobbed the Molotov cocktails, the police charged some of the mob with encroachment and have issued summonses for others on the same charge.

Source: http://www.thephuketnews.com/phuket-%E2%80%98encroachers%E2%80%99-torch-chalong-work-camp-46610.php


-- Phuket News 2014-06-02

[eezergood]

I sense a protest coming on.........

[iReason]

..."but local people already living on the land – illegally by all accounts – being unwilling to move."

Not a foot to stand on.

Barbarians...

[clockman]

T.I.T. Nothing changes!

[Pikeybkk]

any gathering of more than 5 people is against the law...arrest them all

[steelepulse]

Hopefully for these encroachers, they're not going to be getting a lead shower in the middle of the night, but I wouldn't hold my breath. 83 rai of land off parlai has to be worth a bob or two and these squatters appear to have no legal squatting rights. If they value their health, they'll find another vacant plot of land to squat upon.