They said they just wanted someone to take them seriously, and now hundreds of rural poor have made good on that promise by breaking camp to return to their home provinces.
After 19 days camped out near Thailand’s Government House, members of the Assembly of the Poor decided to leave following negotiations during which, they said, a high-level official agreed to resolve their issues, which include flood relief, eviction compensation and land rights.
“I would say I am somewhat satisfied with the negotiations. They’ve agreed to fix our problems, but we still have to wait for official solutions from the government and approval from the cabinet … which will hopefully come next week,” group secretary Barami Chairat told Coconuts Bangkok Friday afternoon.
Won’t leave till demands met, say hundreds of rural poor encamped in Bangkok
In a statement, the group said that Tewan Liptapanlop of the Prime Minister’s Office on Tuesday committed to finding solutions to the group’s 35 issues. That would begin with a meeting to devise a timeframe and establishing a committee to hash out the details and “steadily move forward” on their issues, pending cabinet approval.
Most significantly, the statement said the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry had agreed to discuss the issue of land ownership “in order for members of the assembly to legally make a living.”
The terms would be raised at Tuesday’s cabinet meeting.
“Let’s say this was a very good way to start a conversation,” Barami said.
The group had been camped out in the streets near the government’s seat of power since Oct. 5 in a bid to win attention to long-standing grievances they said continue to be ignored.
Their top issues have included compensation for being forced off land decades ago by several hastily built dam projects such as the Pak Mun, Hua Na and Tasae dams. Community opposition was so fierce to their construction in the 1990s that Thailand has been unable to build further dams since then.
They also wanted relief for new laws affecting protected lands they said would lead to more evictions.
The news was a significant turnaround since Tuesday morning, when representatives complained that top officials refused to meet with them directly.
Barami expressed gratitude to those who put up with their camp.
“We would like to apologize to the people of the capital for any inconvenience or traffic we may have caused,” he said. “We wouldn’t be here in the first place if the government had fixed our problems, many of which have been going on for years.”
He also credited public support, particularly online, for pressuring the government to the negotiating table.
“The support made us really happy, I’d really like to say thank you to the public,” said Barami.
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