Weeding out the bad eggs from Thai government land for the poor programs
By Jon Fernquest
Government
land
programs are meant to help very poor people secure a
livelihood
so they can raise their
families (Read articles #1 (17-06-08) , #3 (29-08-09), #3 (22-09-09), #2 (10-05-10)). They are not meant to lead to windfall profits.
The problem is that some farmers who receive land from the government are actually just working as a front for large corporations and some farmers who receive government largesse turn around and sell or lease their land to large companies for big profits.
Today's article begins after the vocabulary:
weed out - take out
the bad ones from a group (so that the good ones remain)
the bad eggs - the bad ones in a group (like the bad eggs in a carton of mostly good eggs)
X meant to Y - do X in order to achieve result Y
secure a livelihood - do something to make enough money to feed, clothe and house your family
windfall - a large unexpected amount of money that you get
X working as a front for Y - X is not what they appear to be (a poor farmer) they are actually working for someone else (a wealthy company)
largesse - generously giving money or gifts to many people
government largesse - when the government gives things to many to make them happy and win friends
the bad eggs - the bad ones in a group (like the bad eggs in a carton of mostly good eggs)
X meant to Y - do X in order to achieve result Y
secure a livelihood - do something to make enough money to feed, clothe and house your family
windfall - a large unexpected amount of money that you get
X working as a front for Y - X is not what they appear to be (a poor farmer) they are actually working for someone else (a wealthy company)
largesse - generously giving money or gifts to many people
government largesse - when the government gives things to many to make them happy and win friends
LANDLESS FARMERS
Leases held by 117 proxy tenants revoked
29/05/2010Supapong Chaolan
SURAT THANI: A working panel on reallocating state-owned land to poor farmers in Phunphin district has revoked land lease contracts from 117 tenants found to be disqualified.
The disqualified tenants were each granted a lease over 8 rai of land on March 3, 2006.
proxy
- a person or company who acts for another person or company ตัวแทน
tenants - renters of land, apartment, office or other real estate ผู้เช่า
proxy tenant - a person pretending to own and use land but who works for someone else (example: poor farmer gets money from company to use the free land he got from the government)
revoke - take away
panel - a group of people brought together to discuss, investigate, and give advice on a subject
allocate - to officially give out an amount of or share of something แบ่งส่วน
reallocating - taking from one person and giving to another
state - government รัฐ
lease - a legal agreement to rent, to pay money in order to use a building, piece of land, vehicle, etc. for a period of time สัญญาเช่า
contract - a written (or oral) agreement that is legally binding สัญญา
disqualified - found to be not qualified, does meet the conditions to do something or have something
granted - officially given ให
tenants - renters of land, apartment, office or other real estate ผู้เช่า
proxy tenant - a person pretending to own and use land but who works for someone else (example: poor farmer gets money from company to use the free land he got from the government)
revoke - take away
panel - a group of people brought together to discuss, investigate, and give advice on a subject
allocate - to officially give out an amount of or share of something แบ่งส่วน
reallocating - taking from one person and giving to another
state - government รัฐ
lease - a legal agreement to rent, to pay money in order to use a building, piece of land, vehicle, etc. for a period of time สัญญาเช่า
contract - a written (or oral) agreement that is legally binding สัญญา
disqualified - found to be not qualified, does meet the conditions to do something or have something
granted - officially given ให
The panel is now deciding if another 110 tenants are still eligible, said Surat Thani governor Damri Boonjing.
The 117 tenants were villagers who allegedly held the land as proxies for a company.
Altogether 4,181 rai of land became available for distribution to landless farmers after the Treasury Department reclaimed it from Kasetakam Palm company when its lease contract expired on Jan 31.
eligible
- meet the conditions needed for doing something,
allowed by rules or laws to do something or to receive something
มีสิทธิ, มีสิทธิชอบธรรมตามกฎหมาย, ซึ่งมีคุณสมบัติเหมาะสม
allegedly - claimed but not proven, stated without giving complete proof ที่ถูกกล่าวหา
held the land as proxies for a company - See "proxy tenant" above.
distribution - giving or delivering things to many people การจำหน่ายออกไป
expired - ended, finished, no longer valid หมดอายุ สิ้นสุด
reclaimed - take back something (that was given in the past)
contract expired - the agreement ended at the agreed time
allegedly - claimed but not proven, stated without giving complete proof ที่ถูกกล่าวหา
held the land as proxies for a company - See "proxy tenant" above.
distribution - giving or delivering things to many people การจำหน่ายออกไป
expired - ended, finished, no longer valid หมดอายุ สิ้นสุด
reclaimed - take back something (that was given in the past)
contract expired - the agreement ended at the agreed time
About 1,000 farmers from Phunphin district threatened to blockade Surat Thani airport in February after they found the company was allowed to remain on the land despite their contract expiring. The farmers insisted it was their turn to obtain the land lease.
It was not clear if the 117 villagers whose land leases were revoked were connected to the company.
threatened
- telling someone that if they don't do something, they will be punished
blockade - prevent entry to a place
insisted - say firmly that something must happen or is true, and will not change mind
clear - easy to understand
blockade - prevent entry to a place
insisted - say firmly that something must happen or is true, and will not change mind
clear - easy to understand
Mr Damri chaired the panel's meeting at Surat Thani provincial hall on Thursday. The panel, set up under a cabinet resolution on Aug 26, 2003, was told to allocate a 4,181-rai plot in Phunphin district to landless palm-plantation workers in the area.
The cabinet decision required land to be reclaimed from leaseholders whose contracts had expired, and rented out to local landless farmers.
meeting
- when a group of people come together to discuss issues and make
decisions การประชุม
chair meeting - lead, direct, oversee a meeting
provincial hall - the building that is the center for government in a province
resolution - a formal decision taken at a meeting after a vote มติ
allocate - to officially give out an amount of or share of something แบ่งส่วน
plot - a piece of land used for a particular purpose
plantation - a large farm where crops such as tea, coffee, cotton, sugar or, in this case, trees, are grown ไร่ นาขนาดใหญ่
X reclaimed from Y - X taken back from Y
leaseholders - people who have a lease on land, car, ... (rent with monthly payments)
local - in or related to the area that you live, or to the particular area that you are talking about ท้องถิ่น
chair meeting - lead, direct, oversee a meeting
provincial hall - the building that is the center for government in a province
resolution - a formal decision taken at a meeting after a vote มติ
allocate - to officially give out an amount of or share of something แบ่งส่วน
plot - a piece of land used for a particular purpose
plantation - a large farm where crops such as tea, coffee, cotton, sugar or, in this case, trees, are grown ไร่ นาขนาดใหญ่
X reclaimed from Y - X taken back from Y
leaseholders - people who have a lease on land, car, ... (rent with monthly payments)
local - in or related to the area that you live, or to the particular area that you are talking about ท้องถิ่น
It granted a maximum of 10 rai for each new tenant farmer. However, Mr Damri said he would propose the panel reduce that amount to two rai each because so many people were seeking the land. With a two-rai land lease, there would be enough to go around.
Farmers will be encouraged to adopt sustainable farming techniques.
maximum
- the most possible ที่สูงสุด ที่มากที่สุด
tenant - the person or business renting land
enough to go around - have enough of something so that everyone gets part of it
encouraged - having more confidence or hope about something มีกำลังใจ
adopt - to accept or to start using something new นำมาใช้
sustainable - able to be successfully continued for a long time ยั่งยืน, ถาวร
techniques - methods of doing a task or activity เทคนิค
tenant - the person or business renting land
enough to go around - have enough of something so that everyone gets part of it
encouraged - having more confidence or hope about something มีกำลังใจ
adopt - to accept or to start using something new นำมาใช้
sustainable - able to be successfully continued for a long time ยั่งยืน, ถาวร
techniques - methods of doing a task or activity เทคนิค
(Source: LANDLESS FARMERS, Leases held by 117 proxy tenants revoked, 29/05/2010, Supapong Chaolan, link)
