Two hurt, huts set ablaze as gang attacks squatters
PATHUM THANI : Explosions and gunshots rang out yesterday afternoon as a 200-strong group of black-clad men attacked a squatter community occupying a deserted factory in Khlong Luang.
The attackers stormed the 616-rai plot on outbound Phahon Yothin Road around 3.30pm and set about torching some of the near-1,000 wooden huts housing the squatters.While most of the illegal occupants were away, having travelled to their hometowns to vote, the men in black were met with resistance from the 200 or so residents who had remained.
The invaders apparently aimed to evict the occupants from the former factory of the bankrupt Thai Melon Textile Co and demolish their makeshift homes.
The men in black had set fire to about 30 of the huts when the occupants started fighting back by hurling sticks and stones at their attackers.
Both sides fought for more than an hour, during which time other residents nearby reported hearing gunshots and explosions.Two as-yet unidentified members of the black-clad group were injured in the clash. One was shot in the neck and another was shot in the right knee. Both were taken to a nearby hospital.
The land was owned by a Thai-American joint venture before it was seized by a bank following the factory's bankruptcy. It was later auctioned, and a group of private companies won.
The squatters encroached on the land about two months ago, before the new owner could occupy it.A group from the community, who did not wish to be named, said they were told they could live on the land free of charge.
But when they arrived there, they learned that they could reserve a space for building a house only if they agreed to pay 5,000 baht each, while wood and dried grass roofing was offered at 10,000 baht per hut. Khlong Luang district police were contacted to help rescue a number of occupants who had been trapped by the invaders.Police persuaded the men in black to leave. No one was arrested.
"In the news I think it mistake both.The dependent mistake because they live there without permission.
Those who do mistake because they overdo and they cruel.They should let the law handle."
