Too many meetings without implementation of the agreements reached have left many farmers doubting the government and ready to move on their own, which could lead to serious conflicts
The success or failure of land reform _ a major issue for Thailand's rural majority _ can be gauged in various ways. If it were measured by the amount of paperwork generated, land reform could be called a total triumph.
Countless trees have been felled to produce tonnes and tonnes of paper for petition letters, meeting minutes and agendas and especially investigations into such matters as how so many land plots earmarked for the landless poor could have fallen into the hands of the wealthy and influential. But while all the paperwork shows that officials have been busy, the concrete results have been few and far between.
In terms of energy, the land rights issue has led to the consumption of great quantities of fossil fuels by rural people commuting to government offices to submit petition letters, follow up on their cases and meet with the concerned officials and agencies, as well as when there are official visits to the disputed areas.
In some cases the officials verify and endorse the positions of the landless, but that is no guarantee there will be a quick resolution to their problems. Often the barriers to the implementation of the land reform programme endorsed by successive governments seem built into the programme at both the local and national levels.
In terms of life, the ultimate measure, land reform has been costly indeed. A growing number of people have died while engaged in the struggle to access land nationwide, seven in Surat Thani province alone in the last two years.
Last month, on June 24 and 25, landless farmers and other people who have been affected by land schemes travelled once again to Government House in Bangkok to identify their land problems, this time in conjunction with Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's reconciliation strategy.
Land management has been named a major issue in the social and economic reform deemed necessary by the government after the April and May unrest. The two-day meeting was titled Land Management: Problems and Solutions.
Not surprisingly large volumes of paper were again used for villagers to identify their land problems, although many had already submitted such documents to past and present governments.
Many at the meeting were members of Assembly of the Poor (AoP) and the Land Reform Networks of Thailand (LRNT), organisations which have long been arranging such meetings and negotiations for people nationwide. But because the agreements reached in those meetings have never been implemented, the villagers had no choice but to come to Bangkok last month.
Despite past disappointments many villagers had high hopes for the two-day meeting. Rampai Mungmai from Khon Kaen province, who has been with the Assembly of the Poor for more than a decade, said she was optimistic because in the present atmosphere the government might be more serious about tackling their problems.
But now, a month later, the hope of villagers like Ms Rampai are starting to fade and many suspect that the PM's social and economic reform road map is only intended to create the image that the government is listening to the problems of the people.
''It is easy for officials to say that our cases are in the process, but we don't know what the process is,'' said Karnchanart Ou-sab from Nakhon Sawan province, who added that there had been no progress in her particular case since the meeting.
She and others in her village have been members of the AoP since 1997, and have been seeking to gain ownership of land which their ancestors first cultivated in 1927. Some of the villagers hold 80-year-old documents showing their right to the land.
Thawatchai Chomti from Vieng Pa Pao district in Chiang Rai is a Karen-Thai villager who, along with other community members, is facing eviction from the Huay Hin Lad Forest Reserve. After participating in the meeting last month at the Government House he went back home and resubmitted his documents to the district chief, who he hopes has forwarded them to higher authorities.
HELPING THEMSELVES
In Surat Thani province many landless people who are tired of waiting for the government to provide them land as promised have begun occupying palm oil plantations. As might be expected this often leads to confrontation. Two days before participating in the land management discussion at the Government House one of these groups, the Sai Ngam 1 Community in Phrasaeng district, was targetted by unknown assailants firing guns. Presently community leaders are constructing a new fence using bamboo poles and earth to keep attackers out.
''We have to help ourselves,'' said Somsak Petchjui, a leader of the community in Surat Thani province.
According to investigations carried out by the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) many plots of land in Surat Thani that were originally under the control of the Land Reform Office (LRO) have fallen into the hands of influential people. These plots are being used to grow mono crops, usually palm oil by private firms. Some of the plots of land have been leased to private companies for palm oil production for 30 years. In some cases the leasing contracts have expired, but officials say they are unable to get the state-owned land back.
Satitpong Soonchukiat, deputy secretary-general of the LRO, said the meeting last month was just another brainstorming session. ''The government does not mean to restart the whole process for the cases it is already handling,'' he assured, adding that his office has already filed charges against private companies that are illegally occupying land in Surat Thani and that they had won some cases. The companies have appealed, however.
''Thus it is still in the process. We hope we can get back the land soon and use it for the land reform scheme for villagers,'' said Mr Satitpong.
In Sati Pattana Community in Chai Buri district of Surat Thani, only one billboard remains as testament that the land belongs to the LRO. Villagers occupying the palm oil plantations said that other billboards disappeared a few days after officials constructed them on the plots of land.
''It certainly wasn't us who took them down, as we want to tell them [investors and influential people] that the land belongs to the people _ not to them anymore,'' said Pirom Pakdi, a leader of the community. Unlike at Sai Ngam village where all plots of land belong to the LRO, in Santi Pattana some plots also belong to other state agencies, such as the Forestry Department.
Many villagers express frustration that the government seems unable to take back land the private sector has appropriated illegally.
''We are not asking the government to allocate the land to us individually. We want communal land rights so that the land will be used for farming to feed many low-income families'' said Soi Chusakul, a villager who is occupying a plot of land in Santi Pattani community.
Mrs Soi was once a successful farmer who owned a large plot of land in Ranote district of Songkhla province. But her life was turned upside down by the advent of shrimp farming. At first she went with the flow and turned her rice fields over to shrimp farming. She had fairly good earnings for the first few harvests, but after two years she started to lose money. Before long she became indebted, then bankrupt.
''I sold everything, but it was not enough to pay all my debts. My youngest daughter had to drop out of school.''
Mrs Soi has seen neighbours kill themselves to escape their debts, but that's not an option for her.
''My relatives have been supportive _ that helps. They told me that my husband and I did nothing wrong as we have always worked very hard and have never been associated with gambling or other vices,'' she said, adding that the bankruptcy was a result of the unsustainability of the government's shrimp farming policy. ''So I told myself that I have to get on with my life and start again,'' said Ms Soi with a broad smile.
The sustainable farming methods she uses to tend her banana and vegetable plants speak well of her resilience. Despite difficulties such as poor soil due to many years of palm oil cultivation and no irrigation system, her community-allocated plot is very productive. Green banana leaves swing in the breeze like a challenge to the harsh conditions.
She tends her land with only hand-held tools. The work of preparing the soil was made much harder because soil which has been used for palm oil cultivation is ribboned with countless roots. She had to take them out one by one.
She carries water from a nearby stream to water her fruit and vegetables. ''To survive, I only need a plot of land to grow something to feed my family,'' she said.
UNCERTAINTY REIGNS
The Santi Pattani community has been intimidated and even ransacked by state officials allegedly in collusion with former investors, but despite the uncertainty of her position Mrs Soi felt she had no choice but to begin cultivation of her small plot of land. She anticipates that it could take years for the issue to be resolved. She and the other farmers at Santi Pattani hope the eventual resolution will mean the awarding of a communal land deed from the government.
Ratchadaporn Pungtoey lives at the Sai Ngam 1 community with her family. They are from Krabi province, and have been landless their whole lives, as were her parents, hiring out to para-rubber plantations to milk the trees for the natural latex.
Mrs Ratchadaporn said they were paid in the latex they produced, just 40% of the total.
''My wish is to have a plot of land to support my family, I don't want to work for other people my whole life,'' she said while cleaning fish she had caught from a small stream that runs through the area.
Before joining the Assembly of Southern Farmers (ASF), part of the LRNT, members are required to understand the principles and concept behind communal land deeds, and also to be aware off the difficulties and challenges involved in occupying former plantations such as Santi Pattani and Sai Ngam 1. They must not expect that the road to winning land rights will be all rosy.
ASF members have been petitioning for land rights and protesting in Surat Thani at the provincial hall and in Bangkok at the Parliament building and Government House, as well as the Ministry of Agriculture and other government offices. Many of the leaders have been charged with illegally occupying land.
They express frustration that taking over public land goes unchallenged when it's done by the wealthy while access to such land by the poor has proved so difficult even though it has been the announced policy of successive governments.
''I can't understand why influential people and politicians can occupy fertile land without much trouble,'' said a villager, pointing many plots on a mountain not far from the Santi Pattani community that had been clear-cut and put under cultivation. Villagers say this is a clear testimony of the double standards in Thailand, as they are subject to violence and sometimes arrest for cultivating on the poor soil of palm oil plantations with expired leases.
Surat Thani is a stronghold of the Democrat and the constituency of Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban and many plots of land in the province are owned by politicians. ''They have more land than they need,'' said one man bitterly. Last week, the PM's Office Minister Sathit Wongnongtoey visited some plots of land in Surat Thani. While there a close aide assured villagers that the information from the June meeting at the Government House will be used.
What exactly this means is not clear, but the government might be wise to pick up the pace on land reform. Last week some groups of people not affiliated with either the AoP or the LRNT have begun occupying many plots of land in the Northeast belonging to the Thai Asset Managing Corporation, which has the status of a state agency and was established to expedite the resolution of non-performing loans. Whether these groups are made up of genuine landless people is not clear and needs to be investigated, but the point is that more and more people are apparently now willing to take land reform into their own hands despite possibly severe consequences.
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