In the last month of the year, the government handed out many new gifts to citizens, including to poor forest dwellers.
The cabinet on Tuesday approved a move to give 5.9 million rai of protected forestland to dwellers. The offering is part of the government's "collective title deed" land management scheme. Under the scheme, communities will receive deeds that belong solely to them, and in which landownership is not transferable.
Types of land that fall under the collective title deed scheme include protected forests such as national forest reserves, mangrove forests, and Sor Por Kor -- state land given to farmers and forest communities.
Those entitled to the deeds are communities able to prove they had moved to the land before 2014.
"No one will be asked to leave the forest if his or her criteria matches our requirements," said Rawewan Bhuridej, secretary-general of the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning (ONEP) and secretary to the National Land Policy Commitee.
"If you are poor and lived in the forest before National Council for Peace and Order 66/2557, you have the right to stay," she added.
"The policy will be applicable to most public forest areas that have problems with illegal forest dwellers. But we need to exclude prime ecological forests, national parks and wildlife sanctuaries from this collective title deed scheme because we are worried about the ecological impacts on those sensitive areas."
The current national park law bans anyone from living in protected forest areas. The department must first revise some organic laws before it can sign land ownership over to communities.
Under the policy, the collective title deeds will last 30 years and will require communities to pay a low fee, such as 25 baht per rai. The amended law will impose strict regulations to make sure forest dwellers help protect the environment.
According to the department, around 160,000 people live in the protected areas. However, the figure is based on information from a decades-old cabinet resolution established in June 1998. Ms Rawiwan said the department is surveying the actual number to update the number of dwellers in the areas.
Weerayuth Wanalertsakul, director of Land and Community Management in the Protected Area Division, said the policy will not reduce public forestland. The state will actually receive more land in return because of clear demarcation and land management.
"We will not just give land randomly. It is not necessary for villagers to live on a large amount of forestland. The land demarcation will be made to divide living areas, usable forest zones and conservation zones. More regulation will be applied to people living in the Watershed Areas Class 1 or 2 and some sensitive zones. So, in the end, better land use will help the authority regain more quality forestland," he said.
Mr Weerayuth added that some traditional communities who live in highly sensitive areas with many rare plants and animals may be given collective title deeds and relocated to a new area.
Sasin Chalermlarp, chairman of the Seub Nakhasathien Foundation, welcomed the policy.
Mr Sasin, a conservationist, said the deed will help forest officials protect and preserve the remaining forest zone.
"I am quite happy with the plan as it provides a clear number of people living in protected areas and the forest officials are now setting up forest demarcation lines agreed upon by the stakeholders. It should be a sustainable way to deal with conflicts between people living in the forest and the state department," Mr Sasin told Bangkok Post.
The military-led government started the collective title deed scheme last year. It aims to provide collective title deeds covering 1.3 million rai across 884 areas and 70 provinces.
So far, collective title deeds covering 473,000 rai of land have been given to communities living in 140 areas across 57 Thai provinces.