Who will nip the forestry bullies?
Copyright 2000 Bangkok Post
December 7, 2000
Commentary
Here is another blatant example of our country's discriminatory legal enforcement against the poor.
Last month, forestry chief Plodprasop Suraswadi sent a battalion of 1,200 armed men to demolish four Karen shacks in Thung Yai forest on grounds of encroachment.
The law must be respected, he insisted, even though the forest dwellers argued that the area had been the home of indigenous Karens for generations.
After whacking about subsistence peasants, guess what he will do for three resorts encroaching on Taplan national park in Prachin Buri province? Shut them down? Tear down the buildings? According to press reports, the resort investors will be rewarded with park leases from the Forestry Department. Better yet, in a new demarcation of Taplan, the land built upon by the resorts might be separated from the national park to clear the legal hurdles.
Puzzled? Bending the rules to serve the rich is a common practice among the authorities.
Asked by a TV anchorman why he let the big fish go, Mr Plodprasop said: "How can we demolish their buildings? They have invested a lot of money, as much as 60-80 million baht." As to the villagers' homes, they can be torn down because "they are just shacks", he said.
Polee, 63, and his wife sat crying helplessly while forestry staff destroyed their home in Thung Yai and confiscated all their belongings. "We have nothing left. Nothing to eat, nowhere to sleep," he moaned. "All's gone." Can misery be quantified? Can it follow the rule that the less you have, the greater the loss and grief? According to the forestry chief's rationale, the magnitude of misery is decided by the amount of money invested. That's why investors should receive help to avoid financial ruin. Too bad if you're poor and powerless.
This is probably why plantations remained intact when forestry troops stormed Jakeepue village in Thung Yai.
The local mafia in Kanchanaburi have hired illegal immigrants to plant rubber, sweet tamarind and parkia (sataw) trees in and outside Jakeepue. The plantations cover tens of thousands of rai.
Forestry officials said they knew about them. But not one single tree was touched. The 1,200-strong force devoted all their energy to demolishing four shacks. The plantations, like the resort businesses, were sacrosanct.
It is common knowledge that the Forestry Department is biased towards big business. There are countless examples of the poor being kicked out to pave the way for plantations, mines or resort businesses. But Mr Plodprasop's combativeness has lifted the agency's inhumanity to new heights.
Since 10 million peasants live in the areas under the Forestry Department's jurisdiction, Mr Plodprasop's belligerence towards the poor spells widespread rural unrest.
How to avoid violence? In his birthday speech, His Majesty the King related an anecdote of a mother dog teaching her bully pup with a few bites to stop him being a menace.
When the agency which claims ownership over half the country's land mass bullies powerless folks, who is going to give it a few instructional nips? Through self-help, grass-roots movements are campaigning for legal and bureaucratic reforms in the management of natural resources.
The reforms would undo the autocratic system that perpetuates the collusion between technocrats, politicians and investors - the heart of Thailand's wild corruption.
Since money politics is an integral part of this corruption, the coming election won't bring any change. It will only bring new bullies on to the scene.
Things won't change until the people have a real say over the rules governing their lives. And unless everyone is really equal under the law.
Sanitsuda Ekachai is Assistant Editor, Bangkok Post.
sanitsuda@bangkokpost.net