“P-move (Peoples Movement for a Just Society) wishes to affirm that we are not only poor people who are troubled or abused, but we are also groups of people with our own concrete development models to solve our problems. We have savings groups, community banks, community welfare systems for building houses, building communities, waste disposal and disaster preparedness; various models exist in concrete form in many localities.”
From P-MOVE statement on 9 May, 2018 (see below for full statement)
Land, Freedom, Democracy, Justice. These are the main organising pillars of The People’s Movement for a Just Society (P-Move), a coalition of six grassroots people’s movements struggling for justice, rights, dignity and identity in Thailand. P-MOVE members come from across Thailand and include: Isarn Land Reform Network; Southern Peasant Federation of Thailand; Northern Peasant Network; Land Reform Network of Bantad Mountain Range; Four Region Slum Network, and; Community Network for Reform of Society and Politics.
P-MOVE has presented the problems and challenges faced by its member communities to three governments since 2010, asking for timely and appropriate resolution, and recognition of their rights as Thai citizens. P-MOVE members have documented over 200 cases of violations of peoples’ rights to land, water, livelihoods, citizenship and justice. However, despite the formation of several governmental committees and promises of consideration by officials since many years, no concrete actions have been taken by the government to address P-MOVE’s core issues and demands.
To draw attention of the government and the public to their continuing (in some cases worsening) situations, P-MOVE members have been in Bangkok since the beginning of May, seeking agreements with various ministries and the Prime Minister’s Office for fair and timely solutions to their problems. They have been sleeping, cooking and eating in temporary camps on the wide pavements in front of government buildings. As they wait for decisive resolutions/actions from the government, P-MOVE members share their experiences with each other, build solidarity across communities, strengthen their movement, and try to reach out to Bangkok society, press and media to explain why they left their homes and villages to camp out in the heat, pollution and rain of Bangkok for so many days.
Below are statements issued by P-MOVE that express their situations, thoughts and demands. These are accompanied by photographs of the P-MOVE camps and short video clips, all of which will be updated regularly on the Focus website and Facebook.
For updates in Thai language, please visit the P-MOVE Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Pmove2011/
