Three panels to be formed to work out new land allocation scheme

[Lite Beer]

Three panels to be formed to work out new land allocation scheme

BANGKOK: -- The National Land Policy Committee has decided to set up three new approach to allocate state land to the landless poor so they have a place to live and to make a modest living.

One subcommittee, led by Natural Resources and Environment Minister Dapong Rattanasuban, is tasked to look for land for the project. The second panel, headed by the interior minister, is tasked with preparing a list of people qualified to join the project, including evicted forest encroachers. The third panel, headed by the agriculture minister, will be responsible for skill development and promotion and to classify land plots for appropriate purposes.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha who chaired the committee’s meeting instructed the three panels to submit their first reports to the committee in December.

General Dapong further said that the committee also agreed to let the three panels to recruit ten experts in various fields to help them out. The experts are to be drawn from officials of local administration organisations and private organisations who have experiences in land reform, land administration, city planning and environment.

General Dapong made it clear that this project is not about land reform or land distribution to individuals. The land plots allocated are to be managed by communities in the form of a cooperative.

He admitted that previous land reform or land distribution for the landless poor were fraught with so many loopholes that most of the land distributed have fallen into the hands of landlords.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/three-panels-formed-work-new-land-allocation-scheme/

-- Thai PBS 2014-11-07

[chainarong]

Shades of Mao China or Stalin Russia , only in this case it is not forced labour camps, history will dictate whether this will work , the land must be fertile enough able to sustain a family and decent Rai allocated , history isn't kind on this kind of allocation manly the occupants get tired of this way of life and drift back to old habits, it's an idea needs a lot more thought and professional input for the families involved, not, here is the land now work it aren't we nice to you attitude.

[recycled]

The only experts they employ are ones that can scam in favour of the rich. Want illegal land titles, no problem. Want to stay on land because you are poor, sorry can't be done.

[worgeordie]

Land allocation has been tried several times in the past,BUT

the land always seems to land (pun) up in the hands of the rich

and influential .will this time be different,depends what loopholes

are not closed,before allocating the land.

regards Worgeordie

[ramrod711]

He admitted that previous land reform or land distribution for the landless poor were fraught with so many loopholes that most of the land distributed have fallen into the hands of landlords.

Perhaps something like a land "bank" would work. If a land holder decides to leave, the title reverts to the "bank" for redistribution. Under no circumstances is the land sold, ever. I'm sure that corruption will permeate the process, but it must not be allowed to steal this land.

[noitom]

Three panels of Thai "hand picked" bureaucrats juggling land parcels and ramming it to the poor with all sorts of conditions that won't be met in the future. Then the land falls back to these "hand picked" panels who mysteriously signed these documents. In a few years, we will read sob stories and confiscated or pledged for cash loan land.

[rickirs]

No doubt about it - another government populist program that equals to or even surpasses previous PTP programs. It will be directed towards "qualified" people.

I don't oppose its goals. Previous administrations have empowered Thailand to halve its poverty headcount between 1990-2015. But the question now is whether the mechanics of the Junta's land allocation scheme to eradicate poverty through the singularity of being solely a land-based strategy be adequate. This scheme seems to be essentially a throw-back to the land-based feudal systems of the Middle Ages. Will the wealthy Thai landowners and Community leaders become the barons of tomorrow, if not already?

The areas of poverty are diverse and causes are complex. Poverty is more than just a material concept. It is naive to think that ALLOWING someone to access unused land to sustain themselves will eradicate poverty and generate an economic sufficiency. There must be a sense of community ownership to work towards a common level of education, technical skills, and financial capacity without regard to economic class that might lead to efforts not land-based. When one thinks of policies crafted specifically for the poverty class, one has already created an economic divide.

Another problem is the geographical and social diversity of poverty. An example of the former is the Northeast and the South that the very poorest

provinces while also containing wealthy provinces where poverty is less than 7.5%. An example of the latter is the disparity of economic opportunities offered between the industrial, timber, crop, and water-based economies.

Solutions cannot be simply "one size fits all." If the Junta expects it can rush economic equality across the nation to quickly eradicate poverty solely through a land allocation scheme, however targeted and limited it may be, it will only further exacerbate the economic divide among Thais. It needs to proceed with careful deliberation of a broad based economic policy that might not fit its current timetable for economic sufficiency. A study has been done by Somchai Jitsuchon (Director TDRI) and Kaspar Richter, published by the World Bank, and from which I have included the following poverty map as reference, albeit somewhat outdates:

.

[tingtong]

the land giving away, just as did in the past will only benefit of the rich...

there is no way to give away 5 or even 10 rai and hope that the same poor people will be able to work it, with no mashines, no money for seed or fertilizer.

maybe as an alternative, give the land to small, but established farmers to have opportunity to grow, in turn charge them a fair rent for the land, and distribute that to help the poor with education, money, or creating work on those now larger farms.

face it, many of the landless farmers are landless for a reason, and that reason is so often themselves!

[rakman]

If these poor farmers are "given" land, will they respect the gift?

Will they get supervisors who will educate and encourage them to be productive?

What happens if these landless farmers just don't have the skills to be a farmer?

I agree with ramrod711, keep the land in the bank, if abandoned. Keep the law simple, avoid loopholes, and keep tabs on the "governors" to avoid corruption.