Thai politics: Aborted march in North shows flaws in forest evictions

[webfact]

BURNING ISSUE
Aborted march in North shows flaws in forest evictions
Supalak Ganjanakhundee

BANGKOK: -- The brief detention of Chulalongkorn University academic Prapart Pintobtang over the weekend for his marching campaign for land reform has sent a warning message that the reform process in Thailand is going in the wrong direction.

On Sunday, Prapart together with some non-government organisations and farmers from the Northern Farmers Federation, launched a long march from the northern province of Chiang Mai to Bangkok to campaign for their demand for land reform that really benefits the poor.

They called for the end of a master plan mapped out by the Internal Security Operation Command (Isoc), which aimed to force a huge number of poor out of so-called "national forestry areas".

The marchers raised the key issue of chronic land problems in Thailand, which badly need new ideas for reform and management. The classic problem of land arrangements in Thailand is that a large amount of land is in the hands of the minority rich - while many of the majority poor are landless and forced to farm on areas registered as national forest.

From the state's point of view, the authorities want to kick poor farmers out and reserve the land for forest — which in fact no longer exists. Worse, sometimes the authorities clear the poor out and allow the rich in for tourism businesses and forestry plantations.

The issue is a key conflict, which has sat at the heart of land reform efforts and management for a long time. Nothing has been achieved in this area although the authorities have carried out "reforms" on forestland for decades.

On Sunday, military officers blocked Prapart and his group from marching to campaign on the issue - on the ground that this country is still under martial law and the junta wants to see order while it undertakes reforms.

Prapart and the farmers were determined about their plan and began a procession from Wat Suan Dok in Chiang Mai, heading to the capital, where the junta's selected "reformers" were about to kick off their process of change, including the issue of land reform.

The academic and the farmers were forced to stop after being locked up in a jail-like truck. They were not released until they agreed to give up the march.

Prapart is a political scientist who has studied the movement of poor villagers and their land problems for decades. His participation in research into movements of the poor is remarkable and well known among academics interested in the issue.

Prapart said he was well aware of the consequences of his planned march, as the country is under martial law - but he wanted the public to know the root cause of the land problem in Thailand.

"Yes, I might suffer a bit from the arrest but my pain is so little compared to what the poor farmer gets from the state's land management," he said.

Prapart said the experience of poor people in military-sponsored land management in Dong Yai in Buri Ram in the 1990s was painful. The Army together with the Forestry Department tricked the poor into "land for farmer" projects. They lured them out of their old areas for new plots - then granted rental concessions over those fertile lands to the rich for forestry industries. The military said the villagers' old areas were in national forests and parks, so they had to move out. Unfortunately, after making this move, some received land that was not suitable for farming at all, while others were even told no land was available.

"I think what is happening in the North is episode two of the Buri Ram project," he said. "To prevent [a repeat of] that bad lesson, we should allow massive people to participate in land reform."

Prapart's arrest and his message were a big slap in the face for the junta's hand-picked reformers who joined the National Reform Council based on their faith in military power for reform. They are about to draft a plan for reform in various sectors - including land, natural resources and agriculture - while the junta does everything it can to gag the people who really have problems.

It must leave the reformers doubting what their efforts are all about.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/Aborted-march-in-North-shows-flaws-in-forest-evict-30247552.html


-- The Nation 2014-11-12

[NongKhaiKid]

Look at the report " locked up in a jail like truck. They were not released until they agreed to give up the march. "

If accurate it speaks volumes about this government's attitude to dissent.

[CelticBhoy]

"From the state's point of view, the authorities want to kick poor farmers out and reserve the land for forest — which in fact no longer exists. Worse, sometimes the authorities clear the poor out and allow the rich in for tourism businesses and forestry plantations."

That's not a shambles, it's a well organised shambles. Shocking.

[Katipo]

Compounding the problem, the rich usually have acquired the land in an illegal manner.

It's quite amazing how greedy people are by nature; how they will take advantage of others and the environment; when there are not adequate laws of law enforcement to stop them doing so.

[jaltsc]

"...the authorities clear the poor out and allow the rich in for tourism businesses and forestry plantations."

I have yet to see anyone in power, no matter where in the world, not become wealthier after assuming power. One can't make money off the poor, unless they are in possession of a resource that can be stolen from them and sold to the highest bidder(e.g. The U.S.A. petroleum industry pumping oil from former Native American land). It's a universal phenomena. This is just the Thai version.

Edited November 12, 2014 by jaltsc

[pedro01]

No more street protests right now.

Simple enough really. I amongst many are sick of them.

Does not mean reform will not happen.

[seajae]

the problem is that a lot of the so called poor farmers are the ones that sell the land to the rich as soon as it is granted to them then they go and start clearing the parks again. Until the govt only allows them to farm the land with no selling/ownership rights what so ever this will continue. There is no sense giving them land only to see them sell it to those with money, its time the govt came down on all those involved in the transfer of the land to the rich with a very heavy hand, govt officials are also involved in this as well as the farmers then you have to get the ones that are buying the land fully aware it is not legal. Huge fines and jail time are the answer but no one has the balls to do it.

[The stuttering parrot]

Yep honeymoons over for the junta.

Now more and more articles are coming out showing just how things are done under the unelected government .

They have taken on a task why beyond the personal they have and this is an example of the only backup they have.

[jpeg]

the problem is that a lot of the so called poor farmers are the ones that sell the land to the rich as soon as it is granted to them then they go and start clearing the parks again. Until the govt only allows them to farm the land with no selling/ownership rights what so ever this will continue. There is no sense giving them land only to see them sell it to those with money, its time the govt came down on all those involved in the transfer of the land to the rich with a very heavy hand, govt officials are also involved in this as well as the farmers then you have to get the ones that are buying the land fully aware it is not legal. Huge fines and jail time are the answer but no one has the balls to do it.

I agree with what you say. However, if the junta will not allow any discussion/input on this issue, where do they go from here? Nowhere is my best guess. Retain the status quo. The rich get richer and the poor get shafted.

Edited November 12, 2014 by jpeg

[billd766]

Look at the report " locked up in a jail like truck. They were not released until they agreed to give up the march. "

If accurate it speaks volumes about this government's attitude to dissent.

In the other English paper we cannot name there was no mention of them being locked up.

[ramrod711]

They called for the end of a master plan mapped out by the Internal Security Operation Command (Isoc), which aimed to force a huge number of poor out of so-called "national forestry areas".

Obviously the situation was much better under the previous administration. All people had land, no resorts were built in national parks and rich people didn't use poor people as proxies to gain control of forest land. What a wonderful place this must have been, no dissatisfied folk, a land where everyone made money on their farms and there was no poverty. Besides, who really needs National forests anyway, they're just an inconvenience and roadblock to prosperity.

[Leung Falang]

the problem is that a lot of the so called poor farmers are the ones that sell the land to the rich as soon as it is granted to them then they go and start clearing the parks again. Until the govt only allows them to farm the land with no selling/ownership rights what so ever this will continue. There is no sense giving them land only to see them sell it to those with money, its time the govt came down on all those involved in the transfer of the land to the rich with a very heavy hand, govt officials are also involved in this as well as the farmers then you have to get the ones that are buying the land fully aware it is not legal. Huge fines and jail time are the answer but no one has the balls to do it.

I agree with what you say. However, if the junta will not allow any discussion/input on this issue, where do they go from here? Nowhere is my best guess. Retain the status quo. The rich get richer and the poor get shafted.

Since when is a person "born with the right to own a farm"? If you sold your land to pay your gambling debts as so many have, or sold your land to build a new home and buy a car, you are no longer a farmer unless you want to be a sharecropper. The only way small family farms can turn a profit is when the land and home are inherited. (Our family is Isaan). A person farming in a national forest is not a poor farmer, but rather an illegal farmer.

In Isaan, one child stays behind to work the family farm and all the others leave to work in cities. When the parents die, the farm that is left may be divided many ways thus making it nearly impossible to be a farmer. Ten years ago, 66% of Thailand was working in agriculture but today it has dropped to 38%.

In the US, less than 1% of people are farmers, and those that are not only feed the US but also part of the world.

An illegal farmer needs another vocation, not land they can sell.

[Roadman]

Another average one sided article from one of the Nation's writers.

Completely over looks the fact that since the Junta seized power there have been several of the so called rich and powerful who have had their back sides kicked off national parks and what they have developed on national parks destroyed.

And wow the author has to go back to the 1990's to find a case in point to try in a pathetic attempt to suggest that the rich and powerful are going to gain at the poors expense where neither party own national parks land nor have a right to it above the other and where the Junta is applying the same rules to all. Truly pathetic one sided reporting.

Same applies to this protest groups actions where the leader admits knowing the rules and what was going to happen. No s... Sherlock when like all others since the Junta seized power they were arrested yet the author of this piece again wants to imply that this group are being singled out at the expense of the poor and gain for the rich. One can understand why Prayuth has little time or temper for the news media in Thailand. I guess it gives the usual suspects something to bitch about so it does achieve some level of need.

[Robby nz]

Extremely bad policy to be kicking people out of the forest areas who have lived there for generations it is only making enemies from people who could be friends, making people into criminals where there is no crime. These people who have been evicted and in some cases jailed are going to hate authority and dead bodies will be the result.

Where are these people who have no land, no money, no place to live and often denied citizenship going to go, going to do.

I will tell you what they are going to do, they are going to go back into the forest as illegal loggers, hunters and gatherers of orchids and rare plants. The forest service and army is going to be fighting them when with a bit of thought they could have them on side as forest guardians.

Great article in the BKK post today, "Raw power wont silence forest people"