To a group of Thai villagers, Ban Inthanin Kwang is where they call home.
Residents of the settlement, on the banks of the Kra Buri River, say the village is located in Moo 9 of tambon Jor Por Ror in Ranong’s Kra Buri district, along the Thai-Myanmar border.
But Thai officials say Ban Inthanin Kwang is actually in Myanmar, and have rejected calls to claim back the land.
“Ban Inthanin Kwang is located on the other side of Kra Buri River,” said Muang district chief Tnit Kulsungorn, citing an agreement made by Thailand and Myanmar in 1868.
“The village is under the sovereignty of the Myanmar government. Ranong province is acting in accordance with what the map suggests.”
The village became the focus of a diplomatic incident in 2012, following a border dispute that saw Myanmar soldiers arrest 92 Thai residents. Mr Tnit was chief of Kra Buri district at the time.
Shortly after the incident, villagers demanded the Foreign Ministry help resolve the problem, but nothing has happened since.
On Tuesday, three activists from the village began a 500km trek from Chumphon to Bangkok to demand the government reclaim their home town.
Pitthaya Boonthawee, Somporn Kladsaeng and Prathuang Klomsook are expected to arrive at the Foreign Ministry within the next two weeks and will hand in a petition on the issue. They say the village has belonged to Thailand since ancient times.
Kriangkrai Suetrong, who owns land in the village, said the area was always seen as no man’s land. “How can we say the plot belongs to Myanmar? The boundary demarcation is not finalised yet,” he said.
Mr Kriangkrai’s home was one of those raided when Myanmar officials descended on 300 households across 200,000 rai of land in 2012.
“Every Thai was asked to leave the village. There was nothing left in my home. We are not asking for anything except for the Foreign Ministry to reclaim the village back from Myanmar. Otherwise, we may lose another piece of land.”
Mr Kriangkrai purchased about eight rai of land in Ban Inthanin Kwang in 2006 to grow rubber. In 2009, several more villagers bought land plots there from brokers, reassured by the fact that other Thais had been running commercial rubber plantations in the area.
Mr Kriangkrai said he was not arrested in the raid in 2012 because he was not in the area at the time. “But Myanmar soldiers seized everything in my house. I went back and there was nothing left, not even my television,” he explained. He said the land cost about 20,000 baht for 25 rai when he bought it in 2006. By last year the price had shot up to 100,000 baht per 25 rai.
An official from the Royal Thai Army confirmed the village is in Myanmar. “It was agreed by British Burma and Siam in 1868,” he said.
He acknowledged there is no physical demarcation, but said a mutual agreement indicated the border would be separated by the Tanao Sri Mountains and waterways including the Kra Buri River.
“An Ordnance Survey Department map shows that Ban Inthanin Kwang is on the Myanmar side,” the official said.
He added that establishing territorial markers along the border has not been a priority. “It takes time and a lot of effort to do this. But we don’t have a boundary dispute on the western boundary,” he said.
Mr Tnit said provincial officials had warned people not to buy land in the village since it fell within Myanmar territory. “If the Thai government says otherwise, we will act accordingly,” he said. ”But for now we have to follow the map.”