In November 2012, two women were found dead at the edge of a palm oil plantation. The death were understood as a clear warning to the Klong Sai Pattana village in Surat Thani, southern Thailand. The victims had spent the last four years fighting the Jiew Kang Jue Pattana Co. Ltd palm oil company in a land dispute that has engulfed this small community of around 70 families. For decades, Jiew Kang Jue Pattana Co. Ltd has illegally occupied and harvested palm oil trees on 168 hectares of land. Without land title deed or legal documentation, the company had gone unhindered until their presence caught the interest of the Southern Peasant’s Federation of Thailand (SPFT), which supports landless farmers. The village has refused to succumb to intimidation and resisted to be forced off the land despite continuous opposition to their presence through on-going violence from what they believe to be people hired by the palm oil company. See an article from the news agency Aljazeera (in English) at this link:
And a video (in Thai and English subtitles) at this link:
