"Constructive" use of Section 44

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha told landless residents at a ceremony in Chiang Mai yesterday that Section 44 of the interim charter allowed him to cut through red-tape and distribute land-use documents for forest land near their homes immediately.

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Villagers in Tambol Mae Tha in Mae On district of Chiang Mai await the arrival of Prime Minister Prayut Prayut Chan-o-cha so they can recieve documents allowing them to make limited use national forest land. Photos by Thanarak Khunton.

A Suan Dusit opinion poll yesterday indicated that a majority of Thais supported giving Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha unlimited powers under Section 44 of the interim constitution. They can now point to this land distribution to the poor as an example of its benefits. Gen Prayut has promised to use Section 44 "constructively", but the poll also showed that people were aware the powers could be misused.

Government gives seized plots to landless

Prayut uses Section 44 to expedite project

Patsara Jikkham 
Cheewin Sattha

The government has started distributing land plots seized from those caught encroaching on national forest reserves as part of a project to help the landless poor.

Following the May 22 coup, more than 50,000 land plots have been confiscated from encroachers nationwide under martial law.

The government is now allocating the land plots to landless people nationwide, with Section 44 of the interim charter being invoked to bypass normal legal procedures and fast-track the land allocation project.

Section 44 has been invoked to replace martial law – which was lifted on Wednesday – giving the National Council for Peace and Order's leader, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, unlimited power to run the country.

Under the land allocation project, residents will be granted land use rights, instead of land ownership rights to prevent them from selling their land to big businesses.

Gen Prayut visited Chiang Mai yesterday to oversee the ceremony in which local people were given the right to make use of land in national forest reserves at Ban Huay Say in tambon Mae Tha of Mae On district.

Farmers' fields in Tambol Mae Tha at the edge of the forest area.

More than 1,000 residents turned up at the event and waited to receive the land.

Security was tight with more than 2,000 police, soldiers and defence volunteers deployed to Ban Huay Say school, where the ceremony was held.

Chiang Mai residents are the first to have been granted such rights under the project.

A total of 1,235 families at Ban Mae Tha have been given documents allowing them to use land plots covering 7,282 rai in Khun Mae Tha forest reserve in Mae On district.

The documents are not land title deeds and so they cannot be sold to others.

Addressing the ceremony, Gen Prayut said the government recognised the plight of the landless poor – a problem which has been unsolved for a long time.

He said the invocation of Section 44 of the interim constitution also aims to solve this problem swiftly, adding state agencies are working to survey land areas for allocation to people.

Invoking Section 44 enables the land plots seized to be distributed directly and immediately to locals. The land distribution is not possible through normal legal channels as land encroachment cases must go through court proceedings which take a long time.

You can read the full story here: http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/518727/government-gives-seized-plots-to-landless

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