Stories on the Tsunami Affected Communities in Thailand

Using the rehabilitation process to build a more secure future for Thailand's vulnerable coastal communities.

People to People support

CODI's tsunami relief work taps the power of networks and joint effort from day one.

The relief camp at Bang Muang

Managing the "second tsunami" of relief aid

The Amazing Moken sea gypsies

The Network of Moken communities

Permanent Houses for tsunami survivors - what the government is offering

An Army of young architects and planners is helping villagers develop people-driven alterturnatives

What the "people" are building

35 community boat-yards up and running

No boat - no life

No generic fishermen, no generic boat - different kinds of community boat yards- different kinds of fishing boats - different ways of managing money

Boat building friends in the private sector

And more

The Newsletter is now available

COVERING ALL COUNTRIES IN ASIA

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The LAND Issue

The flow of kindness continues, but now comes the greed, corruption and collusion and ugliness around LAND

Post - tsunami LAND GRAB resumes in earnest just a few weeks after the waves.

The government's response to land conflicts

The villagers response to land conflicts

The National tsunami land tenure committee

Tenure variations

1. Relocation to nearby government land with long term lease - BAN TAA CHATCHAI

2. Re-building on the same public land with long term community lease at KLONG PAK BANG

3. Squeeze more families into the same land on long term collective lease at BAN NAIRAI

4. Relocation from destroyed island to private land purchased collectively at BAN PAK TRIEM

5. Island-wide secure tenure planning in partnership with districton Koh Lanta at BAN HUALAM

Land - Sharing at Ban Tung Wah ... and the impacts of this case

 

Newsletter is available for Download here

Thailand    6 Months After posted July 1

The Thai grassroots networks and supporters have been very active over past months establishing rehabilitation processes for housing, employment, education and welfare. However in many instances LAND disputes persist. A total of 412 villages in Southern Thailand were affected by the tsunami. After the tsunami, about 15,000 people in 25 villages found their ownership rights erased or redrawn. Many became homeless living in temporary shelters in Phang Nga and Phuket.

There are still thousands of unsatisfied villagers, says Maitree Jongkraijug, a resident of the hard hit fishing village of Ban Nam Khem in Khao Lak. Many of the unresolved cases - affecting some 7,000 villagers in 14 cases - involve disputes with private landowners and these disagreements have so far defied resolution, he said.

The table is from the Network of Andaman's Tsunami Hit Villagers

Thailand and Land Laws

Under Thai law, people can apply for legal title to a plot of land after 10 years of continuous use. In practice, few succeed, and millions of Thais live on what is technically public land. Speculators exploit this ambiguity by bribing officials to backdate land purchases, then accuse villagers of encroaching. Battles over land title are common in Thailand, particularly when tourist dollars are at stake. Before 1930 all land was owned by the King, hence all people lived on "public" land. Some of the fisher folk have lived on the coastal land for more than 100 years.

 

Chem Prathana, a villager from Ban Nai Rai, received a new home after the tsunami but was later evicted from the land by a local businessman claiming ownership over Chem's plot. He said he remained hopeful he would be allowed to return.

Chian Waahai, 57, from Ko Lanta Yai is also aggrieved. His rubber plantation was claimed by the National Park Authority. "I want my ownership officially recognised over land I have owned for more than 40 years," Chian said.

 

Posted April 2005

Thailand Tsunami Survivors and Supporters were in Sri Lanka where they shared experiences with other survivors

The Thai team presented some of effects of the Tsunami and statistics for the affected provinces along the west coast of Thailand:

•  5,800 people died        •  2,900 people are missing

•  4,300 boats destroyed     •  3,600 house destroyed

•  412 communities affected 

How people organised a grassroots network amongst survivors and supporters.

In the province of Phang Nga (where approximately 2,000 people died), before the tsunami, there was no grassroots community organisation but within one week a network was developed and commenced work on the following:
In the first 1-3 weeks temporary housing was constructed through the collaboration of government, NGOs, businesses and community organisations.
An “affected community network” was established.
The issue of land rights was quickly recognised by the network as a priority concern, with the land either being owned by the public or private sector. Many people decided to return to their old villages to construct permanent houses despite the government saying that this was not permitted.
Those in hte network who didn’t have to deal with the land issue focused on livelihoods. The network began to talk about “repair” groups and livelihood groups to tackle the main problems.
The people were able to use the community network to deal with government.

In summary the communities made strategic moves to deal with the separate yet linked issues ( land, housing, livelihoods etc. ) and then by linking the groups together they formed the network. This approach could now be used as a learning example for the other 6 provinces.

Tung Wa Village
Again the government did not want people to return to the villages. The Thai’s felt the most important step was to organise the people themselves to negotiate with the government. The government was not going to allow them to return, but they did, and they have constructed 17 houses thus far. Money and material for this has come from other sources, not the government, as the community decided not to wait for government assistance. After the land occupation and the media attention, a land sharing agreement was being negotiated

Tabtawan Village
The community has occupied the land for the past 100 years, but after the tsunami. a problem arose when a private company claimed ownership of the land.
The villagers took refuge in the highlands and were cut off from information and assistance but have now returned to occupy the land and organise their community.

Nam Khem Village
50 members of this community have already been in the courts fighting for the right to the land they have lived on for generations.
This land is presently being fenced off, but people have begun construction of housing regardless
It was noted that the land issue is more serious in Thailand and this has lead to the strategies of land invasions, building and then negotiations for ownership or land sharing. Households and communities build without government help, and work with architects and planners to construct buildings which are more practical, beautiful and liveable than the public housing

The complexities of the LAND issue

“ The 3 Thai presenters come from 3 communities which have different kinds of LAND problems. The land issue in Thailand appears to be much more serious than in Sri Lanka because many have been on public land for a long time and now the government has announced that “you don’t have the right to stay here - you have to go.”
One community had lived on the land for more than 100 years and suddenly – after the tsunami – there appeared a landlord, a private landlord who claimed that he owned the land. In the other community, the Namkhem community, it is very complex. There is a court case underway. But if community gets involved with the justice system – they are sure they will not get their land, they will lose the land. For these people the strategy is just to invade the land. Hopefully the media and public are still aware of the affected people, and so they have started to build their houses and get publicity. Someone fenced off the land. Even then, people invaded the land and got onto the land on which they had lived before and began to build on it. By building their houses, they are negotiating for the land and now they’ve acquired it.

This third community has obtained a compromise through a land-sharing agreement ( i.e as a group, they agreed to move from some of the land on which they formerly lived and to retain a smaller portion) and they can stay with quite a pleasant and healthy environment. This community will be the centre of the Moken (traditional fisher-folk or the sea gypsies) network, who live in the 6 provinces.
In the case of the Tubtawan community, the network has persuaded the government to set up a committee to discuss their case, and the community is waiting to see how it deals with that: However, while that negotiation is going on, the people never stop building houses. Using the donors’ money, they can manage everything and use volunteers to support their work.
It’s not going to stop here because once these few communities start building up, it creates the waves that say that communities can stay on the same land. So the linking of the 6 provinces strengthens the community based movement, through sharing and exchanging.
We do not say this is the way to go – to break the rules of the government - but we think this is the way to get the system acting in a more appropriate way. It provides answers for the government.

In the communities where people are building, we support them with architects and planners to help them plan their areas. In fact the houses they build are very beautiful, and have received a lot of media attention, This is especially so when compared to the government housing box like structures located 5 - 6 kms away which many people have said look like “pig houses”, not houses for human beings. So the government housing authority starts feeling ashamed because the people houses are more beautiful.”

Thai Survivors Plans for April - May - June

• To find land for permanent settlements and for those who do have land, establish what their rights are;
• To undertake participatory housing design with specific input from women;
• Continue improving skills & sourcing materials for boat repairs;
• Establish a revolving fund for livelihood development;
• Establish a community welfare fund to provide unconditional loans based on community decisions not funding agency decisions;
• To strengthen the community network so all the affected communities can share experiences and transfer skills;
• Establish an effected migrant workers link and support network as 2,500 died, 7,000 are missing and 1,800 remain in the area and are in need of assistance;
• A warning system is what is necessary to be established as opposed to the setback zones;
• To organise the people to provide co-ordination between donors and the communities.

The first 3 months of stories and reports from the Thai friends of ACHR have been transferred to Thailand Tsunami - The First 3 Months