Army seeks Bt1.2 billion to tackle land profiteering in deep South

September 7, 2012

BANGKOK, Sept 7 – The Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) has been instructed to seek a Bt1.2 billion budget from the government to launch a land mortgage programme in Thailand’s three southernmost provinces in an attempt to stop land profiteering, according to army chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha.

Gen Prayuth said Her Majesty the Queen recently expressed concern about land profiteering to squeeze out Buddhist Thais from the troubled-plagued region.

The army shares similar anxiety and the government is considering the proposed budget, he said, adding that Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has ordered the Southern Border Provinces Administration Centre (SBPAC) to map out the land mortgage project.

The idea of the project is to enable residents in the three southernmost provinces to mortgage, and not sell, their land so that they can redeem their property when the situation returns to normal, he explained.

He added that statistics of population movement in the deep South, however, showed that the number of people moving into the region is higher than those moving out.

Col Pramote Prom-in, ISOC deputy spokesman, said the coordination centre for royal projects has learned from residents about the land profiteering after which the Fourth Army Region Command assigned a special task force to monitor the movements of both Buddhist and Muslim Thais.

The land profiteering is in the initial stage, involving about 100-200 rai, he said, but the attempt to secure more land has not stopped, noting that it is too early to implicate separatist movements or foreign funds in the profiteering. (MCOT online news)

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