Farmers Demand Their Land
Thu, 23/07/2009 - 17:28 Since July 17, about 150 farming families have occupied a eucalyptus plantation run by the Forest Industry Organization (FIO) under the Royal Forest Department in Tambon Thung Phra, Khon San District, Chaiyaphum Province in the Northeast. They vow to stay on until the government gives them back their land. In 1979, the FIO started planting eucalyptus trees on their farmland and promised to give each family 6 rai in compensation. For 30 years, the promise has never materialized. 'At first, the FIO persuaded villagers to be members of the forest village project, claiming they would be qualified to work for the FIO and would be given 5 rai for farming and 1 rai for housing. Villagers who did not agree were threatened and abused by means of legal measures. Ammunition was buried in the ground and villagers were framed for possessing war weapons. Eucalyptus trees were planted on farmland. The villagers suffered. Many families have moved to work for wages in Bangkok to survive,' said Buala In-im, one of the villagers. According to Pramote Phonphinyo, advisor to the Northeast Land Reform Network, the FIO has claimed that the plantation is included in the terms of a concession, but the concession area is actually somewhere else. The threats and evictions of villagers from their farmlands have been going on since 1976, despite their resistance. After many years of local struggle, on July 7, 2005, a district-level joint fact-finding working group chaired by a Senior Deputy District Chief agreed that the FIO's plantation was imposed on the villagers' farmland, and the land should be redistributed to the farmers. In response to the farmers' complaint, the National Human Rights Commission's sub-committee on lands and forests, after having investigated the issue on the ground and held meetings with relevant state agencies, released a report on Dec 28, 2007, which concluded that the FIO had violated the rights of the villagers, and recommended that the government cancel the plantation and order the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry to help the plaintiffs in cultivation and land management. The National Human Rights Commission approved the sub-committee's report and recommendations on Sept 20, 2007. On Dec 29, 2008, an official community meeting of Tambon Thung Phra resolved that the Khon San plantation be cancelled, and during the process of cancellation the villagers could utilize the 1,500 rai of land. On July 22, about 100 farmers rallied at four tambon of Khon San District, informing the public of the reasons for their actions.
