A civil society organisation for poor communities in Thailand rejected a community forest bill, saying that landless communities will still suffer if the bill is enacted.
Dereak Khongngoen, the representative of People’s Movement for Just Society (P-Move), a civil society organisation, which is the voice of marginalised communities in Thailand, on Monday submitted a petition to Thatsana Bunthong, the Deputy President of National Reform Council (NRC), urging the Thai lawmakers to amend Community Forest Bill.
According to P-Move, the contents of the draft bill, which was initially proposed by P-Move and other NGOs has been altered by the authorities to the point that it does not answer to the needs of marginalised communities in the country.
The members of P-Move submit the petition urging for the amendment of the Community Forest Bill to the National Reform Council (NRC) members on 8 June 2015.
Dereak pointed out that landless communities in Thailand would have to pay expensive rent for using public land plots under the current draft bill.
In addition to the bill amendment, P-Move also called on the government to implement bills on community rights and land bank, which would allow communities to utilise local natural resources.
Since June 2014, many landless communities which allegedly encroached into public land plots and protected areas have been affected by the junta’s National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) No. 64/2014, which applies strict legal measures on alleged land encroachers and poachers of illegal forest products.
In the past few weeks, the Thai authorities seized back many rubber plantation areas, which allegedly encroached into protected areas, nationwide.
According to Atthapol Charoenshunsa, the General-Director of Forest Protection and Fire Control Bureau of the Royal Forestry Department, the authorities plan to reclaimed about 1.5 million Rai (2,400 sq.km) of alleged illegal rubber plantations across the country, the Bangkok Post reported.