PUBLISHED : 17 Feb 2024 at 04:00
About 10,000 rai of land owned by the 3rd Field Artillery Regiment will be reallocated to farmers in a bid to eradicate poverty and landlessness problems, Jirayu Houngsub, the Defence Ministry spokesman said yesterday.
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin and Defence Minister Sutin Klungsaeng will be in Nong Wua So district of Udon Thani on Monday to hand over the 10,000 rai of land for farmers to lease for farming.
The land redistribution will be known as the “Nong Wua So” development model. The land is located within safe areas of the 40,000 rai of land owned by the Treasury Department.
So far, about 500 farmers in Udon Thani have registered to take part in the Nong Wua So development model, Mr Jirayu said.
The development model was devised by the government, with its main principle to obtain unused land belonging to the military so that it can be reallocated to those in need to help eradicate poverty and landlessness problems faced by many farmers.
Three-and-a-half months into the plan, Mr Jirayu said that the government is impressed with the results, with many figures in the ministry planning to expand the model into other areas.
Mr Sutin had instructed the Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters and the army to survey the 2,400-rai military-governed land in the Sai Yok district of Kanchanaburi.
As the Provincial Treasury Department has lowered the rental fee for the land, the rental contracts for the model are expected to be presented to the farmers by March.
The Royal Thai Navy, meanwhile, plans on piloting the model on their 4,000 rai of land in Samut Prakarn’s Phra Samut Chedi district. The process is now awaiting the decrease in rental fees, said Mr Jirayu.
At least 16,000 rai of military land is now ready for this policy, which will help with mitigating other problems in the future, said Mr Jirayu.
Meanwhile, the air force is planning to revive Chiang Rai’s non-active old airport to support the force’s humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HA/DR) missions, said commander-in-chief ACM Punpakdee Pattanakul.
The airport, now owned by 416 Squadron, will be developed under a three-year plan to help it achieve International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standardisation. It will have new workout areas for the public as well, ACM Punpakdee said.