Such coverage floods media outlets and raises alarms about deforestation, while the government’s promise to “reclaim forestland” sounds fantastic.

But there are always two sides to a coin. More than 100 underprivileged people in Mae Jon village have seen their lives worsen since the forest reclamation campaign started.

“We used to have our own land plots and earned a living as farmers – but not anymore,” lamented a middle-aged woman belonging to the Dara-ang ethnic group in Mae Jon village in Chiang Mai‘s Chiang Dao district. The woman spoke on condition of anonymity.

She said she had already lost her land because of the forest-reclamation policy.

“Now, my husband and I have become odd-job workers. Yesterday, we received Bt500 in wages. But we don’t know what will happen tomorrow. What if we can’t find jobs? We have two children to feed too,” she said sadly.

Her village spans about 116 rai (18.5 hectares) of land hosting 28 families, most of whom are of Dara-ang or Palaung ethnicity. The forest-reclamation campaign hit the village beginning on May 18.

The woman said her family initially had about 10 rai of land for farming. But over time, state officials from various agencies showed up and insisted that her family had encroached on state land or designated forests.

By last year, she had just 1.5 rai left. But the government came back and took it all. “When officials last came here, they promised they would help with remedial action like providing us with free pigs or chickens. But I don’t know how long I will have to wait,” she said.

She said she had stocked seed, fertiliser and agricultural chemicals in preparation for the new farming season because she had worked the farm for a long time.

“So now, without land, I don’t know what to do with that stuff,” she said. She added that the seed and fertiliser had been bought with a loan of about Bt10,000.

She is getting hopeless as her days go by and her family’s savings run out while she has no idea what to do.

“We don’t have a livelihood when we can no longer work on our farms,” she said.

She mentioned that some villagers had already left the village to look for jobs elsewhere. “My 60-year-old neighbour has managed to get a job at an elephant camp,” she said. “Some younger folks say they will try to find jobs in town.”

Another woman, referred to by the pseudonym “Dee”, said she would leave the village soon in search of work because her family of 11 had just seven rai of land remaining.

“We used to have 15 rai and that’s big enough to feed the whole family. With our land plot shrinking by half, I have no other choice,” she said.

Reluctant to leave their hometown, several villagers have banded together to file a petition with Thailand’s National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), which has tried to arrange talks between involved parties.

Another villager, referred to as “Tong”, said he was living in fear because he was not sure whether state officials would show up and take more of his land. “Initially, I had 12 rai of land. But now I only have seven rai,” he said.

He said he could not risk growing mango trees on his land because the plants would take time to bear fruit.

“I think I will have to go with fast-growing plants like corn or red beans,” he said.

Most villagers in Mae Jon grow longan, mango and corn, and many rarely leave their hometown because they do not have Thai citizenship. While they are allowed to stay in the village, they need to seek prior permission for any trip outside its borders.

A researcher from Chiang Mai University, who also spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to make public comments, said local residents faced many restrictions if they want to work and earn money outside of their village.

“And even if they get permission to leave the village, there are many risks ahead. How will their employers treat them? They don’t have a nationality,” he said.

He said villagers who landed a good job and settled down would still have to travel to complete paperwork.

“That means a lot of travel expenses,” he said.

He added that if villagers stayed in their hometown, it would be hard for them to earn money if they did not own land. “There are very few jobs, if any,” he said.

He added that occasionally farm owners might need farmhands, but not for a long period.

“Add the drought to the list of factors to consider and villagers might get a job just once a month,” he said.

Everywhere in Mae Jon village, residents are concerned about how to make ends meet.

Many families in the village are now subsisting on low-quality rice that previously would only have been used as animal feed.