Thailand's forests: Continued concessions for big business or true land reform?
By Jon Fernquest
Thailand's
forests have received a
lot of attention
in both the international media and in academia. Last year's passage of a flawed Community Forest Act by Thailand's interim post-coup legislature (the NLA) sparked a lot of controversy (Read 2004 Andrew Walker article and Bangkok Post article).
A pathbreaking book Forest Guardians and Forest Destroyers: The politics of environmental knowledge in Northern Thailand picked holes in commonly accepted beliefs about the environment in Thailand (Read article).
The recent publication of Thai Forestry: A Critical History by Thai journalist Ann Danaiya Usher takes a broad look at the history of forestry in Thailand as a whole (See book).
Friday's editorial (featured today below) suggests that laws that just serve as cover for the rich and powerful, that disregard justice, need to be rethought.
In related news the Finance Ministry has "plans to lease up to one million rai of state land to poor farmers by 2013" (Read article).
received a lot of attention -
people have been looking at it, thinking about it, and talking about it
a lot
media - news and entertainment outlets such as newspapers, TV stations, radio, and magazines
academia - teachers and researchers working in universities
flawed - has mistakes, defects, and imperfections
a community forest - a forest area in which the community jointly creates rules for the use of forest resources to preserve the forest for future generations and prevent over-exploitation (See World Bank case study)
Community Forest Act - a law, highly criticised by many academics, that attempted to create rules to: 1. prevent over-exploitation of the forest, and 2. to preserve the forest for the use of future generations
interim - temporary, before something permanent is created
legislature - the group of people in a country that have the power to make laws
sparked a lot of controversy - created a lot of disagreement and argument
pathbreaking - does something that no one has done before
picked holes in - be critical and find problems with
serve as cover - used to hide things
disregard justice - does not deal with fairness
media - news and entertainment outlets such as newspapers, TV stations, radio, and magazines
academia - teachers and researchers working in universities
flawed - has mistakes, defects, and imperfections
a community forest - a forest area in which the community jointly creates rules for the use of forest resources to preserve the forest for future generations and prevent over-exploitation (See World Bank case study)
Community Forest Act - a law, highly criticised by many academics, that attempted to create rules to: 1. prevent over-exploitation of the forest, and 2. to preserve the forest for the use of future generations
interim - temporary, before something permanent is created
legislature - the group of people in a country that have the power to make laws
sparked a lot of controversy - created a lot of disagreement and argument
pathbreaking - does something that no one has done before
picked holes in - be critical and find problems with
serve as cover - used to hide things
disregard justice - does not deal with fairness
EDITORIAL Farmers must be given land
12/06/2009The question boggles the mind: When millions of poor farmers are willing to pay the same land lease fees which the government would get from tree farm corporations, why do they always lose out to big business?
After asking this question for decades, the farmers' patience has run out. Now that state concessions to monoculture tree plantations in various parts of the country have expired, the landless farmers are demanding that this time around they must have the right to rent these public lands first.
boggles the mind - is
confusing and
difficult to understand
lose out to big business - big business wins, they lose
patience has run out - not patient anymore, want results quick!
concessions - special and limited permission given by the government to do some business
plantations - large farms
monoculture tree plantations - large farms where they grow only one kind of tree
expired - finished, used up
public lands - land that belongs to the government
lose out to big business - big business wins, they lose
patience has run out - not patient anymore, want results quick!
concessions - special and limited permission given by the government to do some business
plantations - large farms
monoculture tree plantations - large farms where they grow only one kind of tree
expired - finished, used up
public lands - land that belongs to the government
The Democrat-led government has responded positively, with PM Abhisit Vejjajiva's support for the public land lease scheme for the landless. For the Democrats, it is a wise policy move to address inequitable land distribution and to garner grassroots support.
This plan does not go down well with its influential coalition partner, Bhumjaithai party. Apart from being protective of its Northeast stronghold, the Bhumjaithai is increasingly frustrated with the Democrats' opposition to its mega projects and has made clear that it will oppose this public land leasing scheme.
inequitable - when
some people get more than other people
inequitable land distribution - when some people get more land than other people
garner - get
grassroots - ordinary people (not leaders or the rich and powerful)
garner grassroots support - get support from the ordinary people
coalition - when several groups join together to form a larger group
coalition partner - one of the other groups that joined together with your group
influential - powerful
influential coalition partner - a powerful member of your coalition
a stronghold - a safe well-defended place secure from attack
frustrated with Y - are tired and angry about Y
inequitable land distribution - when some people get more land than other people
garner - get
grassroots - ordinary people (not leaders or the rich and powerful)
garner grassroots support - get support from the ordinary people
coalition - when several groups join together to form a larger group
coalition partner - one of the other groups that joined together with your group
influential - powerful
influential coalition partner - a powerful member of your coalition
a stronghold - a safe well-defended place secure from attack
frustrated with Y - are tired and angry about Y
Fed up with political infighting, some 2,000 landless farmers in Dong Yai forest of Buri Ram province, have moved into the contested forest zones where the concessions for eucalyptus plantations have expired.
Legally, it is a rash move and against the law. But the landless at Dong Yai have the moral legitimacy to back their land claims.fed up with - tired
of something (not interested in, hate)
infighting - fighting between members of the same organisation or group
political infighting - fighting for political power between members of the same group
contested - people are fighting for control over it
eucalyptus - a big tree with many small leaves and big hanging branches from Australia (See Wikipedia)
infighting - fighting between members of the same organisation or group
political infighting - fighting for political power between members of the same group
contested - people are fighting for control over it
eucalyptus - a big tree with many small leaves and big hanging branches from Australia (See Wikipedia)
Back in the '70s when the insurgency was at its height, the military government encouraged them to settle in Dong Yai and to clear the then lush forests in order to destroy the communist insurgents' potential strongholds. In return, they were promised legal land ownership.
They were betrayed when peace arrived.
Instead of getting the promised land, the Dong Yai farmers faced ruthless eviction and imprisonment for violating the forest law, which does not allow farming or human settlement in forests. Rubbing salt into the wound, the Forestry Department leased out the land where the Dong Yai villagers had farmed - plus a large chunk of good forest - to eucalyptus tree farms at the outrageously cheap rate of 10 baht per rai, dressing it up as a reforestation programme.
the insurgency -
organised fighting against the government
lush forests - forests with a lot of green plants growing in great numbers
communist - the political system and philosophy based on the writings of Karl Marx (See Wikipedia)
communist insurgents - a communist organisation fighting against the government
stronghold - a safe and secure place to stay, safe from attack
potential strongholds - places that could be made safe and secure
ruthless - cruel, done with no kindness or consideration at all
eviction - removing people from land, an apartment, or office
ruthless eviction - removing people from their land or home in a cruel manner (without any consideration for them)
human settlement in forests - people living in forests
rubbing salt in the wound - making an inury or damage even worse
leased out - rent to other people
chunk - piece
outrageously - ridiculous, makes you laugh
dressing it up as Y - making it look like a Y
dressing it up as a reforestation programme - making it look like a programme to plant trees that have already
lush forests - forests with a lot of green plants growing in great numbers
communist - the political system and philosophy based on the writings of Karl Marx (See Wikipedia)
communist insurgents - a communist organisation fighting against the government
stronghold - a safe and secure place to stay, safe from attack
potential strongholds - places that could be made safe and secure
ruthless - cruel, done with no kindness or consideration at all
eviction - removing people from land, an apartment, or office
ruthless eviction - removing people from their land or home in a cruel manner (without any consideration for them)
human settlement in forests - people living in forests
rubbing salt in the wound - making an inury or damage even worse
leased out - rent to other people
chunk - piece
outrageously - ridiculous, makes you laugh
dressing it up as Y - making it look like a Y
dressing it up as a reforestation programme - making it look like a programme to plant trees that have already
Dong Yai forest was not the exception. Since this farcical reforestation project through monoculture tree plantation was launched nationwide, many secondary forests were cleared to make way for the planting of eucalyptus in the Northeast and oil palms in the South.
Following successive protests, many grassroots leaders were sent to jail. But through relentless campaigns with land rights advocacy groups, their community land reform policy proposal to ensure community ownership, ecological farming and forest conservation has gradually made inroads into policy-making boardrooms.
an exception - a
case that does not
follow a general rule
not an exception - a case that does follow a general rule
farcical - makes you laugh, like a comedy
forests are cleared - the trees are cut down
make way for Y - make room for Y, make a space for doing Y
relentless campaigns - efforts to do something that never give up
advocacy - helping people defend their rights
land rights advocacy groups - groups that fight to gain land rights for people who do not have them
ecological farming - farming that follows the patterns of nature like "organic farming" using natural ways instead of man-made chemicals and methods
conservation - protect plants, animals and the places they live and grow (habitats)
forest conservation - protecting forests from destruction
made inroads into policy-making boardrooms - influenced and guided important policy decisions
not an exception - a case that does follow a general rule
farcical - makes you laugh, like a comedy
forests are cleared - the trees are cut down
make way for Y - make room for Y, make a space for doing Y
relentless campaigns - efforts to do something that never give up
advocacy - helping people defend their rights
land rights advocacy groups - groups that fight to gain land rights for people who do not have them
ecological farming - farming that follows the patterns of nature like "organic farming" using natural ways instead of man-made chemicals and methods
conservation - protect plants, animals and the places they live and grow (habitats)
forest conservation - protecting forests from destruction
made inroads into policy-making boardrooms - influenced and guided important policy decisions
Last month, the government designated Ban Tabkeua, an old forest community in Trang, to pioneer the first communitystate-endorsed land reform, while promising more. Alarmed at what is to come, the local authorities reportedly worked with land mafia to step up threats and intimidation of the landless movement members.
At Dong Yai, the villagers fought back by taking over the old plantations, the areas which they believe should have been theirs had past governments kept their promises. The farmers' movement has worked out an answer to the landless problem: unless politicians patch up their differences and the draconian forestry laws are amended to give community land reform a chance, more grassroots unrest will definitely ensue.
designate X to be Y
- to make X into a Y, to give the name Y to X
pioneer - be the first one to do something
state-endorsed - approved and supported by the state
community - all the people who live in a place and know each other (haev something in common and are friends)
land reform - improvements in the way that land is distributed to people
alarmed - surprised about something and worried
land mafia - criminal gangs who deal with land and land ownership
initimidation - make people afraid so that they will do something
a movement - a group of people who are working for some improvement in society
fought back - fight to defend yourself after being attacked
kept their promises - do what they promised, said they were going to do
worked out an answer to the landless problem - solved the problem of farmers without land to farm
draconian - a law with a very harsh and severe punishment
draconian forestry laws - laws about forest use that punish people severely
amended - change
unrest - people express their anger about something and protest and/or cause damage (riot)
pioneer - be the first one to do something
state-endorsed - approved and supported by the state
community - all the people who live in a place and know each other (haev something in common and are friends)
land reform - improvements in the way that land is distributed to people
alarmed - surprised about something and worried
land mafia - criminal gangs who deal with land and land ownership
initimidation - make people afraid so that they will do something
a movement - a group of people who are working for some improvement in society
fought back - fight to defend yourself after being attacked
kept their promises - do what they promised, said they were going to do
worked out an answer to the landless problem - solved the problem of farmers without land to farm
draconian - a law with a very harsh and severe punishment
draconian forestry laws - laws about forest use that punish people severely
amended - change
unrest - people express their anger about something and protest and/or cause damage (riot)
(Source: Bangkok Post, op-ed section, 12/06/2009, EDITORIAL Farmers must be given land, link)
