Illegal occupiers of land under land reform face seizure of the land



BANGKOK: -- People who occupy more than 500 rai of land under land reform scheme will be summoned to meet with provincial governors in their respective provinces to prove their occupation rights otherwise the land will be seized.

Mr Sansern Atjutamanus, secretary-general of the Office of Land Reform for Agriculture, said that the requirement for the doubtful land occupiers to prove their occupation rights was ordered by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha invoking Section 44 of the interim constitution.

The Office of Land Reform for Agriculture has recently completed its survey of the big land plots under land reform over more than 500 rai whose occupiers have refused to use the land for agriculture. Altogether 540 land plots covering 520,000 rai have been identified.

Of these, there are 394 plots each of which covers between 500-999 rai, 127 plots each of which covers between 1,000-1,999 rai and 19 plots of over 2,000 rai each.

Nakhon Ratchasima was identified as the province with the highest incidence of encroachment of land under land reform with 179 plots of over 150,000 rai followed by Sakaeo’s 83 plots of 85,000 rai, Lop Buri’s 13 plots of 41,000 rai and Chachoengsao’s 28 plots of 23,000 rai.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/content/166112

-- Thai PBS 2016-06-06

over more than 500 rai whose occupiers have refused to use the land for agriculture.

Did we not have an announcement at other day about a move to a post-agrarian society?

What is the current usage of these plots at the moment?

Would this include friends of Suthep some years back who got all that land earmarked for landless peasants but somehow they got most of it?