“P-Move” submitted a petition to the Ad Hoc Committee, hoping for justice in an overlapping land case.

Photo: Teeravoot Sion via SAP News

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On 9th October 2025, at 1:00 PM, at the Parliament Building, representatives from the People's Movement for a Just Society (P-Move) submitted a petition to Pol. Col. Tawee Sodsong, Chair of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Consideration of the Amnesty Bill for Citizens. They were calling for justice regarding the impacts they have suffered from the implementation of the State Policy on Land and Natural Resources, B.E. ....

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Representatives from Chaiyaphum, Lampang, and Nakhon Ratchasima provinces stated, “The villagers are the victims of flawed state policies.” The government's land and forest management policies have forced the poor, ethnic groups, and marginalized communities to lose their homes and farmland.

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The group emphasized that they had been living in these areas long before the government designated them as state land. However, the state has changed their status from "pioneers" to “encroachers” and subjected them to legal harassment, particularly after the 2014 military coup, which saw more than 48,000 legal cases filed related to forest reclamation efforts.

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Although the government claimed that these forest reclamation policies aimed to take legal action against investors encroaching on state land, in reality, it was the poor villagers who became the scapegoats of this failed policy. As a result, many families lost the right to live on or farm their land, leading to family breakdowns and debt problems.

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Therefore, the group of affected community representatives came to submit a petition in support of the Amnesty Bill. They hope that this legislative revision will lead to the restoration of rights and justice for all citizens. The participation of the House of Representatives would signify a respect for community rights and contribute to securing people's livelihoods based on a balanced, fair, and sustainable coexistence, rather than the state exercising power to intimidate or exclude the people from participating, as has been the practice in the past.

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Photo: Teeravoot Sion via SAP News

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Mr. Laofang Bundidterdsakul, Member of Parliament from the People’s Party, stated that the people affected by the state’s forest reclamation efforts should never have been prosecuted in the first place. The state claimed that the land reclamation policy aimed to target investors who had encroached on public land. However, when it becomes clear that those affected are only local villagers, they deserve justice. Since these communities have already been subjected to legal action, there is no better way to provide justice than through legislative means by passing a law that grants them amnesty, restores their right to prove land ownership, and returns a decent quality of life to the people.

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Pol. Col. Tawee Sodsong concluded by saying, “Amending this bill is a valuable opportunity to ensure that amnesty applies to the people, not just to politicians.”

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Photo: Teeravoot Sion via SAP News

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“Mr. Tik” A Voice from the People of Thap Lan

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Mr. Tik, a representative of the villagers from Thai-Samakkhi Subdistrict, Wang Nam Khiao District, Nakhon Ratchasima Province, an area affected by the declaration of land overlap by Thap Lan National Park.

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He said that the people of Thap Lan who use the land for living and making a livelihood live in constant fear of legal prosecution. This is because the state uses the national park boundaries it controls to determine who has encroached.

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Most people in the Thap Lan area are farmers. Some have faced legal actions from the government and have been evicted from their farmland. Meanwhile, others, although not yet facing government action, are unable to fully invest or work on their land due to fears of arrest or eviction.

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"Villagers have been oppressed and prosecuted by the government in court, at the trial level, appeal, and supreme court levels, some have even been imprisoned. My father was one of those prosecuted, and the stress led to a brain hemorrhage, causing his death last month," He said.

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The hope of the people of Thap Lan now lies in the "Amnesty Law for the People." Mr. Tik believes that this law will help restore justice to the villagers and give them the opportunity to live happily and work without worry.

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