Thailand’s deputy Agriculture Minister Thammanat Promphao has vowed to seize all the Sor Por Kor land plots, or land plots which should be allocated by the state to landless farmers under the Land Reform Program, and reallocate them to the landless.

The deputy agriculture minister said Sunday that he had set up a committee to solve the problem of Sor Por Kor land plots across the country, many of which are being held by non-farmers and those who have used the land for other purposes, such as building resorts.

He said that land illegally held by non-farmers must first be confiscated and then be redistributed to the landless, mainly for agricultural purposes or for community tourism if the land is not suitable for farming, but an approval is needed from a committee which is yet to be set up.

There are about 2.4 million hectares of land under the Land Reform Program, of which 2.16 million hectares have been allocated to landless farmers and the poor on which they can make a living.

The remaining 240,000 hectares are yet to be allocated because land surveys cannot be undertaken due to legal problems.

Thammanat said that about 800,000 landless poor have signed up for Sor Por Kor land and they are still waiting for their allocations.

Sor Por Kor land plots cannot be sold or transferred to non-farmers or used for other activities besides farming. They can, however, be inherited by the next of kin of the original recipients.