Bangkok – Government Spokesperson Puttipong Punnakanta says the prime minister, Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, has expressed his concern for landless people, particularly agriculturists who need land to make a living.
According to the spokesperson, for the past four years the current administration has allocated plots of land to as many as 45,000 people, most of whom are poor, low-income earners, or struggling farmers in a bid to help them make a sustainable living while at the same time educating them about environmental conservation, so that they can coexist with nature.
The problem of landlessness has plagued Thailand for generations, said Puttipong, adding that many landless people were mistreated in the past, hence the current government’s land reform policy which strives to authorize the use of public land by the underprivileged and to end forest encroachment in an effective way.
Thanks to its land reform efforts, the government has been able to preserve 102 million rai of forest areas through law enforcement and legislative measures.
Between 2015 and 2018, no fewer than 45,200 people benefited from the land reform policy.