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Article

14 Nov 2020

Author:
Protection International

Thailand: Land defender's life at risk while farmers face eviction amid dispute with palm oil company

'Land Rights Defenders of the Southern Peasants' Federation of Thailand Face Eviction Over Lawsuit Filed by a Private Company Holding Unlawful Land Title Deeds', 14 November 2020

On 27 November 2020, the Surat Thani Provincial Court conducted a preliminary hearing on the case of 36 land rights defenders from the Santi Pattana Community, a member of the Southern Peasants' Federation of Thailand (SPFT) that is struggling against forcible eviction from their land... This community’s struggle for land rights started in 2003, when a local private company called the United Palm Oil Industry PLC, claimed to have a so-called NSK3 document - land title deeds - over a plot of land that local villagers had been tilling and, conspiring with local authorities, initiated the process of forcibly evicting people from the land... In July 2020, the company proceeded with a cadastral survey despite the fact that the land rights are still being disputed, and they have tried to forcibly evict people from the land... On 20 October 2020, an unknown perpetrator broke into the house of Mr. Dam Onmuang, a member of the Santi Pattana Community and a land rights defender and fired a gunshot at his head. Fortunately, Mr. Dam was able to escape and survive...

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