Many villagers forced off the land they have lived on for generations

General News - Saturday December 22, 2007

@THAILAND

BIG WAVES LEAVE BITTER LEGACY

Many villagers forced off the land they have lived on for generations

Story And Photos By ANCHALEE KONGRUT

Tourists visiting Ban Nam Khem, a seaside area in Phangnga's Takua Pa district which was hit hard by the tsunami in 2004, may not be able to imagine the devastation caused by the killer waves.

After all, life has appeared to return to normal and for some, the tsunami is just a fading memory.

Tourists stroll along pristine beaches. Asian visitors pack seafood restaurants in Laem Pom in Ban Nam Khem - the area with the country's highest death toll from the tsunami.

But something has changed. In particular at Laem Pom, where barbed wire has been put around a vast plot of land covering 400 rai, with a huge sign saying the land belongs to a private company. The land has been grazed and gravel roads have been paved.

More than 30 families who once lived on the land have been relocated, except for two villagers, Sanchai Krudtamas, 29, and a neighbour, who are involved in a legal dispute over the land.

Recently, they were both charged with trespassing.

Mr Sanchai lost his case on Dec 14 as the provincial court ruled in favour of the company.

Devastated by the verdict, he has vowed to fight on, saying he will appeal.

"I could not believe we lost the case. Our family has lived on this land for three decades," he said.

The verdict dealt him a new blow after the tsunami killed his parents, sisters and nieces.

Mr Sanchai said the family settled in the area in 1970.

The land was abandoned by tin miners after mining concessions ran out. He said most villagers who live in the area did not acquire land title deeds, unlike the wealthy landlords.

In 2002 the landlord once told his family to move out.

The court verdict is a bad sign for other tsunami-ravaged villagers elsewhere who are in disputes with private landlords who turned up with title deeds and blocked attempts by villagers to move back to the land. They even sued villagers for trespassing.

According to the Andaman Community Rights and Legal Aid Centre, 412 villagers in 23 tsunami-hit villages face land trespassing charges.

Plaintiffs are both private landlords and state agencies. Most cases concern land in prime areas with high property values including Khao Lak in Phangnga, some areas in Phuket and Koh Phi Phi in Krabi province.

Suttipong Lyetip, a staff member of the centre, said the tsunami had allowed landlords to kick out villagers who have occupied land for generations.

These include the case of Moklan - or Morken - sea gypsy villagers in Ban Tap Tawan who have been charged with illegally occupying a 24-rai plot of land that was passed on to them by their ancestors more than 100 years ago.

Facing the same fate are Muslim villagers at Ban Nai Rai, tambon Na Toey in Thai Muang district, who were told to move out when the land owner wanted to develop land covering 200 rai. Most villagers, like the majority at Laem Pom, accepted the landlord's relocation offer.

Mr Suttipong said land disputes in these areas should not be regarded as just another trespassing case.

"The question is how and why private land owners can obtain title deeds. Many plots are located on public land that used to be mining land, and should be classified as state assets. However, individuals still manage to obtain title deeds," he said.

Land disputes which took hold after the tsunami were so severe that the Thaksin Shinawatra government in 2005 formed a special committee to oversee the problem.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) also launched an investigation.

The committee, together with the NHRC, has recommended the Land Department verify all title deeds that were issued in the area, as old maps and aerial photos indicated that many plots are public property.

Preeda Kongpean, a member of the committee, said the Land Department failed to follow the recommendations.

"The state officials claimed they will wait for court rulings. But the court limits its consideration to disputes between private land owners and villagers. So there is no examination to prove whether those title deeds are lawful or not," she said.

"If the issue goes unchallenged, many villagers who have lived there for decades would have to leave and national property would become private property," she said.

Larb Harntalay, 44, a Moklan community leader of Ban Tap Tawan in tambon Bang Muang in Phangnga's Takua Pa district, said the villagers will go to court to fight a similar land dispute next year.

She said her ancestors had lived in the area for more than a century. They moved to other areas during World War II and returned to the same place over three decades ago.

Poor and illiterate, these ethnic people who live a traditional and reclusive way of life had never applied for legal title deeds.

Mrs Larb said land disputes force villagers to change.

"Now I have to learn to speak Thai. I learn to ask officials to let us stay and to help us," she said.

Mrs Larb said she had no idea what to do if villagers are forced to move out. She just knows that villagers have lived there for decades and all they want is to live on their original land plot.

She said she did not think about winning or losing.

"I have never imagined walking out of this village ... not to mention moving out to live elsewhere,"she said.

Bangkok Post