Land Consolidation Implementation in Indonesia and Thailand: Empirical Dynamics and Financing Schemes

Rapid urbanization in Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia and Thailand, has caused severe spatial fragmentation and a proliferation of urban slums, necessitating sustainable land reorganization without forced evictions. This paper aims to analyze the empirical dynamics of land development, compare foundational financing structures, and identify long-term success factors for spatial adjustments. Utilizing a qualitative comparative methodology through socio-legal and economic-managerial lenses, the study examines Land Consolidation in Indonesia and Land Readjustment in Thailand. Results show that while Indonesia's framework addresses multi-dimensional social issues and disaster recovery, its implementation is hindered by bureaucratic silos, sectoral egos, and complete dependency on public budgets due to a lack of marketable reserve land. Conversely, Thailand’s approach achieves financial self-sufficiency and regulatory clarity through its 2004 Act, commercializing reserve land and leveraging grassroots community savings. The main contribution of this research lies in its synthesis of diverse land typologies—from urban slums to post-disaster zones—and its strategic structural comparison, filling an analytical gap in single-location and purely normativist literature. The study concludes that long-term structural success relies on financial autonomy and unified institutional mechanisms rather than tokenistic participatory rhetoric. It is recommended that Indonesia implements a radical policy reorientation by establishing local integrated Land Consolidation Desks to eliminate institutional fragmentation, adopting Land Value Capture models alongside Bank Tanah mechanisms to lock land value, and shifting community engagement from mere administrative consent to substantive financial shareholding to avoid gentrification.