59-05-032 Proceeding

217 Proceedings of the Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Congress posing high threats or are highly needed for development receive high clearance priority. Among them is the minefield confirmed hazardous area (CHA) no. 0387-01 with a total area of 2,420,000 sq.m. that is heavily contaminatedwith different types of landmines and other ERW.Thisminefield is located alongside the road to the Thai-Cambodian border where people from both countries exchange goods and trade at the unofficial border crossing pass; namely Chong Prik. Villagers of four communities live in the proximity of this minefield and need access to these lands for land use and forest products. 1.2 Affected Communities TDA’s senior members conducted a preliminary assessment of communities in the proximity of this minefield at the beginning of July 2012 by interviewing village leaders and key informants. Mine contaminations have obstructed local people from freely entering that area. For rural villagers, the forest is regarded as a supermarket where they can find forest products essential to their daily lives: fuel wood for cooking, herbal plants used as traditionalmedicine andmushrooms and vegetables for consumption. Mines also block their ruminant animals from freely grazing grass. In addition, they block free border crossing between people from both sides for local trade. If people enter that area it means they risk their own lives and in the past, innocent villagers have been crippled. It is revealed from the assessment that four communities are negatively affected as shown in the table below: Village Village Leaders Number of Household Population affected Charat Mu 1 Mr. Manoon Kamsiris 141 554 Charat Pattana Mu 8 Mr. Tongpoon Singtap 246 861 Taweng Mu 2 Mr. Riam Somram 120 370 Sapan Mu 2 Mr. Jansame Somtong 160 562 Total 667 2,347