The news was revealed by Uthai Suksirisamphan, Chairman of the Board of Farmers’ Federation of Thailand, at a meeting of those affected at Darul Abideen Mosque in Sakhu yesterday (Aug 10).
Presented at the meeting was a copy of a resolution by the Senate Standing Committee on Agriculture and Cooperatives in 2003 requesting that the Royal Forest Department allow 265 farmers in the forest be allowed “ownership” of the plots they occupy through the payment of tax receipts for the land (TorPor 4).
The request was issued after a complaint was filed by farmers in the area in 1998.
The total area the the Senate Standing Committee on Agriculture and Cooperatives requested be handed over to local farmers in 2003 covered 2,678 rai 1 ngan 53 talang wah.
The Bang Khanun Protected Forest Reserve, in the hills inland from Nai Yang Beach, covers a total of 3,763 rai. Many of the elevated areas afford sea views.
Of note, a tax receipt is evidence of possession, but does not confer ownership rights with possession. However, it is useful when applying for a Certificate of Possession (SorKor 1), explains Thai legal firm Tilleke & Gibbins.
Once a SorKor 1 has been issued for a parcel of land, the occupier can then start the process to elevate the document for land possession status, over time and step by step, all through way through to full ownership through a Chanote.
Also of note, and explained at the meeting yesterday, the Senate Standing Committee on Agriculture and Cooperatives also requested that “there must be no arrest of people because it is an area that has been conducted with agreement of all parties”.
On this basis, the farmers present at the meeting yesterday said they had full rights to claim the land they occupy in the protected forest. Representatives from the group will now take steps to achieve that, the group was told.
However, the representatives at the meeting yesterday emphasised that claiming actual ownership of land in the forest was not their goal.
The goal was to maintain use of the land in the forest so that families that rely on the income made from farming areas in the forest can continue to provide for their families. The farmers were even happy to rent the land from the government, said an official report of the meeting.
The move by farmers to claim ownership of land in the forest comes in response to the Royal Forest Department handing over rights to all 3,763 rai of the Bang Khanun Protected Forest Reserve to the Royal Thai Navy, which plans to build Naval facilities in the forest.
The Royal Thai Navy plans to use the forest land to create a new home for the 22nd Anti-Aircraft Battalion, the 2nd Anti-Aircraft Regiment, the Anti-Aircraft Command Unit, an Air Defense and Coastal Defense Center and the 4th Naval Police Battalion of the Naval Police Department.
While still designated a protected forest reserve, the Bang Khanun Protected Forest has long been classified by the Royal Forest Department as a “degraded forest”, with no special characteristics worthy of a higher protection classification.
Vice Admiral Arpakorn Yookongkaew, Commander of the Royal Thai Navy Third Area Command, has already recognised 265 “cases” had been approved use of areas within the forest.
However, more than 100 local residents occupying land within the forest last month presented a formal request for the Royal Thai Navy to remove a barbed-wire fence from the area.
On Tuesday, Chamrun Koetdam, President of the Network of Gulf of Thailand-Andaman Conservation Areas, submitted a petition to Thalang District Chief Bancha Thanu-in, asking the Thalang District Office to specifically order two tambon administrative organisations in the district to enforce the Building Control Act in one particular area of Bang Khanun reserve forest.
Citing information supplied by several groups of environmentalists working in Phuket, Mr Chamrun said past major flooding at Phuket International Airport might have been caused by this widespread deforestation, which has also occurred on mountains close to the airport.
“We have received information about serious encroachment and deforestation in the reserve forest. This is a threat to the country’s natural resources and to tourism,” he said, reports the Bangkok Post.