In June, the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) exercised its special powers under Article 44 of the interim charter to allow corporations with activities on ALRO land to resume their operations. Many people have condemned the move, which they said unacceptably favoured rich corporations and ignored the land rights of poor farmers. “This is the use of power without good governance principles, which will lead to more severe land problems.”Somchai said using the special power to overthrow the court verdict and permit mining and petroleum drilling on ALRO land was unacceptable. The order applied to only around 4,000 rai (640 hectares) of land, or 0.1 per cent of all 40 million rai of ALRO land, he said. The ALRO chief said the land would be returned to farmers for use as water retention ponds or other purposes.

Source: The Nation Bangkok July 09, 2017 18:00 UTC