Where are you land reform? | Bangkok Post: learning

About economics

Will Pheu Thai sweep land reform under the carpet? Armed thugs hired by a landlord burned down a squatter village on the edge of Bangkok last week.

Click button to listen to Land Reform and rightclick to download

Bangkok Post EDITORIAL: Lessons from Thai Melon (8/07/2011)

Rows of thatch-roofed shacks set ablaze sent black smoke swirling into the sky, as passersby ducked for safety amid a thundering exchange of gunfire.

This was not a scene from a movie. It was a violent attack in broad daylight by some 200 armed men to evict a community of squatters from a deserted plot of land right on busy Paholyothin Highway.

The 616-rai plot of land in Pathum Thani's Khlong Luang district was where the textile factory Thai Melon Polyester once operated. Following the firm's bankruptcy the land was confiscated by the Thai Asset Management Corporation and the deserted premises were taken over by hundreds of landless squatters, who refused to leave when the property finally changed hands, making the new owner furious. Hence the violent eviction. He is now under arrest.

The Klong Luang police chief has also been transferred for allowing the eviction to occur right under his nose and for failing to arrest the gangsters on the spot.

The occupation of Thai Melon Polyester and the violent eviction reflects the severe problem of landless-ness which has led to heated conflicts all across the country. Though accused of breaking the law, the encroachers' tears and painful cries as they watched their huts engulfed by the fire was heart-rending. They only wanted as piece of land to live on, they said. Why can't the government help the landless when there is plenty of idle land around, they asked. Why, indeed?

Disparity and social injustice has been the mantra of the Pheu Thai Party, which now has a mandate to run the country. Ironically, the party does not have any policy to effect land reform to help the landless.

Its priority is political reconciliation. But reconciliation among different power cliques cannot prevent future violent conflicts when structural inequalities are left unaddressed.

How can peace be possible when nearly 5 million farmers are landless, while 90% of arable land belongs to only 10% of the people? How can the landless not be furious when 70% of land is left idle when they desperately need farms to till? Or when 30 million rai of land is actually available for redistribution - if only the government had the political will to free the plots from bankruptcy confiscation to help the poor, instead of selling these plots at firesale prices to the landlords.

How can politicians explain their inaction on land reform, when 134 of the MPs in the last government today own as much as 42,221 rai of land worth more than 10 billion baht combined.

Whichever political party is in power, the government cannot sweep land reform under the carpet if it wants to avert a land rights war and pave the way for social equity. During its tenure, the Democrat-led government made the right move in recognising community land ownership, to maintain farmlands within the communities, and to set up a land bank to buy idle land for redistribution to the landless.

But much more needs to be done, such as building an online database of land ownership, as well as implementing progressive land, property and inheritance taxes to free up unproductive land from the hands of the privileged few. The country stands to lose if the momentum towards reform comes to a standstill. With Pheu Thai's emphasis on disparity and double standards as the country's main problems, it faces even higher public expectations to make equitable land distribution a reality. Without land reform, equity remains a pipe dream and Pheu Thai's promise to eliminate disparity becomes nothing but empty rhetoric.

(Source: Bangkok Post, EDITORIAL, Lessons from Thai Melon, 8/07/2011, link) 

Land Reform Vocabulary

thatch - straw or reeds
thatch-roofed shacks -small houses with rooves made of straw or reeds 

ablaze - on fire ถูกไฟไหม้
set ablaze - lit on fire

swirl - moving around and around quickly, moving in a circle
swirling into the sky - moving in a circle as it moves up in the air

passersby - people passing by a place (in cars, motorcycles or walking)
ducked for safety - fall down or lean down (so you don't get hit by bullets that are flying through the air)
violent - involving the use of physical force, with the intention of causing damage to property or injury or death to people รุนแรง

broad - wide กว้างๆ
in broad daylight - not a secret; done in a way that everyone can see (not hidden at night)
armed - carrying guns or other weapons ติดอาวุธ

eviction (noun) - the process of forcing someone to leave a building or place where they have been living or working การขับไล่ออกจากพื้นที่ การไล่ที่
evict (verb) - force people to leave the place they are living or doing business in (the place they "occupy")

community - the people living in one particular area ชุมชน
squatters - people who live on land other people own illegally, without the permission of the owners คนที่เข้าครอบครองสถานที่โดยไม่ได้รับอนุญาต

evict a community of squatters - force a group of people who are living in a place without permission of the owner to leave
deserted - empty ที่ถูกทิ้งให้ว่างเปล่า ร้างไป
plot - a piece of land used for a particular purpose

bankruptcy - when a company loses money and does not have enough money to pay their debts and continue in business, the company's assets are sold off to pay debts (See Wikipedia)
confiscated - taken away ยึด ริบทรัพย์ หรือสินค้า officially took away someone's possessions for legal reasons or as a punishment ยึดทรัีพย์ ถูกยึด

premises - the buildings and land that a business or organisation uses ที่ดินและสิ่งปลูกสร้าง
deserted premises - an empty building 

property changed hands - when land and real estate changes owners (new owner)
make furious - make very angry

transferred - changed someone's job or responsibilities โยกย้ายตำแหน่ง
occur right under his nose - some bad event happened (when he was there and should have seen it and stopped it)
on the spot - immediately (do it when it happens at the place it happens)
arrest the gangsters on the spot - arrest the gangsters immediately

occupation - the act of staying or living in a place (example: the company's occupation of the building lasted for 10 years) 
severe - very serious and worrying ที่รุนแรง ที่น่าเป็นห่วง
severe problem - a very serious and worrying problem
conflicts - angry disagreements and fighting between people or groups ความขัดแย้ง

engulfed - covered or surrounded by something harmful, in this case, fire ปกคลุม
engulfed by the fire -  covered and surrounded by fire, by flames

heart-rending - makes you feel very sad and pity the people
landless - people and families without land (to live on and farm)

plenty - having more than enough of what you need to live อุดมสมบูรณ์
idle - not being used; not working อยู่นิ่ง ไม่ให้บริการ หยุดนิ่ง ไม่ดำิเนินการ ซึ่งยังไม่ได้ใช้การ
there is plenty of idle land around - there is a lot of land that is not being used

disparity - a big difference

injustice - when something unfair happens to people; failure to treat someone fairly and to respect their rights ความไม่ยุติธรรม
social injustice - when something unfair happens to one group of people in society

policy - a plan of action to guide decisions and achieve outcomes (See Wikipedia) นโยบาย
reform - a change that is intended to correct a situation that is wrong or unfair การแก้ไข การปฏิรูป

priority - something important that must be done first สี่งที่สำคัญเป็นลำดับแรก
reconciliation - a new and friendly relationship with someone who you argued with or fought with การทำให้ปรองดองกันอีก,การคืนดี, ประสานสัมพันธ์

clique - a small group of friends (other people cannot join, exclusive)
power clique - a small group of friends who share power amongst themselves

address a problem - try to solve a problem
problem remains unadressed - the problem has not been solved yet
unaddressed - (of a problem) not taken care of

arable land - land that can be farmed
land left idle - land that is not farmed (or used for any productive purpose)
till the land - plow the land (to make it ready for planting seed)
desperately - extremely or very much อย่างเต็มที่
desperately need farms to till - very much need farms
redistribution - taking from one group of people and giving to another group, sharing something out differently from before, especially in a fairer way การปันส่วนหรือจัดสรรอย่างเป็นธรรม
plots - pieces of land
landlords - the owners of land or real estate (here farmland)

sweep under the carpet - hidden away and forgotten about (don't talk about it, so people forget about it and never think about it anymore)
sweep land reform under the carpet - don't talk about land reform anymore, so people forget about it
rights - things that people must or should have as a matter of law or morals, things they are entitled to (See Wikipedia) สิทธิ์  
land rights - land and real estate that people own (or should own as a matter of morals or the law)
land rights war - a big fight over who gets land
avert a land rights war  - avoid a big right over who gets land
pave - to cover an area of ground with a hard flat surface of pieces of stone, concrete or bricks
equity - being fair and reasonable, treating everyone equally
social equity - a situation when all people in society are treated fairly
pave the way for Y - prepare the way for Y, do what is needed for Y to happen 
pave the way for social equity - do what is needed to achieve social equity
tenure - the period of time during which someone has an important job ช่วงระยะเวลาที่ดำรงตำแหน่ง the period of time spent in a position or government office ในระยะเวลาที่ดำรงตำแหน่ง
maintain - to keep รักษา
land bank - the buying and holding of land for future development or use (here: agricultural land or "arable" land, to be used for farming)  (See Wikipedia)

online - connected to the internet
database - a large amount of information stored in a computer in an organised way ฐานข้อมูล
online database of land ownership

implementing - turning a plan into a functioning system นำมาใช้จริง
inheritance - money or objects that someone gives you when they die มรดก ทรัพย์สินที่ได้รับมรดก
progressive land, property and inheritance taxes -

unproductive land - land that is not producing anything (rich owner holding the land to make a long-term profit from appreciation in land value)
free up unproductive land - take land that is not being used to produce crops or in business and give it to someone who can use it
in the hands of the privileged few - owned by a small group of rich people

momentum - forward movement and progress towards achieving goals
come to a standstill - stop
momentum towards reform comes to a standstill - the movement and progress towards improvement stops

emphasis - special importance or attention that is given to one thing in particular การเน้นย้ำ
disparity - a big difference between two things
standards - a rule for behaving which should be obeyed มาตรฐาน, บรรทัดฐาน, กฎเกณฑ์, กรอบ
double standards - when there are two rules (a special rule for a special group of people and another rule for ordinary people)

expectations - what people believe will happen in the future การคาดคะเน
faces even higher public expectations - people believe they will get even more in the future

distribution - giving or delivering things to many people การจำหน่ายออกไป
equitable distribution - when people are given the same amounts (or at least fair amounts) of something (here: land)
equitable land distribution - when people have fair amounts of land (farmers often become landless during bad economic times when they have to sell their land to big landlords who then accumulate large amounts of this land which remains idle)

reality - actually happening ความเป็นจริง
make a reality - make it real, make it true (not just a plan or a dream)

eliminate - to get rid of completely กำจัดหรือขจัดให้หมดไป
eliminate disparity - end the difference (in income and wealth, for example)

empty - having nothing inside ว่างเปล่า
rhetoric - language that tries to convince or persuade people (but may not be completely honest and sincere)
empty rhetoric - things that people say or promise to achieve a goal (such as election) which are not true or they will not do (therefore meaningless)

Tell us what you think about this article

Like dislike 0 people liked / 0 people disliked it

Share this article

0

0

• More +

• Republishing permission
• Print this

Bangkok Post online classifieds

Try buying & selling goods and properties 24/7 in our classifieds which has high purchasing power local & expatriate audience from within Thailand and around the world.