The Paetongtarn Shinawatra government has reassured the People's Movement for a Just Society (P-Move) that it will take care of displaced villagers' plight, ending its almost three-week street protest. Now, the ball is in the government's court.
Previously, Prime Minister Paetongtarn had been criticised for turning a cold shoulder to the protesters, who had travelled to the capital from many areas.
These included villagers from Koh Lipe in Satun, whose land was taken over by investors, and Karen villagers from Bang Kloi village in Phetchaburi, who have sought to maintain ancestral rights over their land.
The long-standing land conflicts on Satun's Lipe island and Bang Kloi village remain challenging. The former involves widespread land grabs, driven by tourism promotion, over the past decades that have deprived the Urak Lawoi sea gypsies of their property.
The latter is a simmering land conflict after Karen villagers in Phetchaburi's Bang Kloi village were evicted from their land. State authorities vehemently refuse to recognise the minority villagers' way of life.
As a large part of the site they were relocated to is barren, some Bang Kloi villagers returned to their original land in 2021, only to face prosecution.
The two issues require political will on the part of those involved.
Finally, Ms Paetongtarn has appointed Suriya Jungrungreangkit, deputy PM and transport minister, as chairman of a committee tasked with finding solutions to the villagers' plight. Digital Economy and Society Minister Prasert Jantararuangtong will serve as committee vice chairman.
P-Move said it welcomed the new committee and expressed hope that progress could be made.
Patchara Kampitak, the group's coordinator, said there is an urgent need for the national committee to replace the one the Srettha Thavisin government formed last year.
While Mr Prasert promised a speedy process, the group is well aware that the national panel, while important, will be cumbersome and inefficient. It has called for another 11 sub-panels, an increase from seven set up by ex-PM Srettha. Each panel is to be headed either by ministers or the permanent secretaries of relevant agencies to cover all the pressing issues.
While P-Move is campaigning for policy changes rather than taking up individual cases, it hopes that the villagers' plight will be addressed. All the demands will be slotted into the next cabinet meeting or by Nov 8 at the latest. The issues range from access to welfare to naturalisation and villagers' occupation of land that belongs to different state agencies, for instance.
Key forest and land laws and state policies, like the policy issued by the military junta to take back forest land for the state, trample on people's ancestral rights. The solutions lie in the hands of bureaucrats who tend to interpret the laws by the letter. Such action, more often than not, deals a heavy blow to villagers, particularly indigenous people.
Indeed, Mr Suriya's appointment as committee chairman has raised eyebrows, given his lack of background in the issues. But P-Move remains optimistic, hoping they can work together.
Mr Suriya and Pheu Thai must not delay. Instead, they must ensure progress and push for long-awaited solutions.
In particular, Pheu Thai, which boasts of being a party close to the grassroots movement, must not fail the villagers and give them the help they deserve.