Some state land currently used by the military is being transferred to the poor, starting with 3,918 rai (1,549 acres) of navy land next month, Defence Minister Sutin Klungsang said on Wednesday.
He was speaking while visiting a navy unit in Phra Samut Chedi district of Samut Prakan. following up on progress in policy implementation.
Mr Sutin said the Pheu Thai Party had promised voters during past election campaigns that it would find land for the poor, so they could make a living.
This policy was being implemented by transferring to the poor degraded forest land and unused state land currently allocated to the military, the minister said. The military land actually belonged to the Treasury Department.
Poor people would be given the land-use rights and become tenants of the Treasury Department, Mr Sutin said. They would be able to transfer these rights to their descendants in perpetuity, the defence minister said. He promised to keep the rent low.
The navy was the quickest of the armed forces to respond to the policy, Mr Sutin said. It would hand back its rights to 3,918 rai of land in Phra Samut Chedi district next month, the minister said.