allan michaud

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If I were Yinguck I would quickly sell the 20 billion kg rice they have in stock. With this money they can pay the farmers and pay back a large chunk of the loan at BAAC. Then my critics wouldn't have much left to say.

Erm? What are you on and where can I get some?

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RT @RichardBarrow: 11:30am This is what is heading to #Bangkok; 100’s of farmers & their tractors. Now in Ang Thong (Pic @CrDNnews) http://t.co/gulQbf5Soy

Just a thought if these farmers are so poor and skint whos paying for all the fuel ? tractors are not that fuel efficient and its a long way to bangers and back. im no expert on tractor mpg but its got to be pretty awful and expensive on a round trip.

And why do all the tractors look like they came from exactly the same place or hire firm ?

1. These tractors are pretty standard and standardized. Same manufacturer and probably the same outlet

2. The protesters think it looks better to put those that look the same together at the front. You know, more professional, more serious, more pretty and just riep roi.

3. Some of the money collected by PDRC was specifically allocated to farmers groups to allow them to protest (and legal fees)

Most usually it's supporters of Phua Thai and it's predecessors that accuse the other side of being elitest and derogatory for saying that farmers are paid to vote. Apparently it's becoming OK for supporters of Phua Thai to say that farmers are being paid to protest against them. Any port in a storm it seems.

Nation: Tens of thousands of farmers

Richard Barrow: 100's of farmers.

Look, 2 people per tractor, 100 tractors, we're talking 200 people, so Richard Barrow estimate is reasonable.

10000 people in 100 trucks = 100 people per truck and tractor, so Nation are wrong, you couldn't get 100 people in a tractor.

38.2% of Thailand is rural agriculture. i.e. about 26 million people.

200 people = 0.0008% of Thailands rural agricultural population.

So dear Suthep, you raised 20 million baht and organized a protest for farmers, and you got 0.0008% of Thailands rural population to back you.

But worse than Suthep, you want to put 400 people in power with your people's council, but bring a convoy of 200 people as justification!

Who can make the most outrageous claim? You or the Nation. Clearly 10,000 is way over the top, but similarly your claim of 200 is farcical. Realistically there are probably upwards of 2,000 people judging by the fact that the tractors are mostly pulling carts with people in them.

Nothing to see here! Just a bunch of fake farmers... (written with tongue firmly in cheek)

This just has to be THE headline of the decade for TV readers. Deep joy.

Who's next? Thaksin vs Abihsit?

or maybe a mud wrestling fight between Yingluck and the PCAD cutie, who has been making lots of noise lately... Now that could bring in some badly needed cash.

Well, she is hotter than Yingluck... sorry, just trying to look at it from a Thai political standpoint

As someone else stated, &lt;deleted&gt; is this story doing in a NEWSpaper?

Need for classification. NCA DOES NOT USE MOCHIT they have their own terminal about 2km away. The article says

"The bus was operated by Nakhonchai Tour Company. A passenger said the bus departed Mo Chit Bus Terminal in Bangkok at 23.00 last night with maximum capacity and was bound for Khonkaen province." NCA does own a tour company which may use Mochit. That company is http://www.nakhonchaitour.com/nct/

Already been clarified, it was a NCA bus. The NCA bus to Khon Kaen leaves it's own terminus and then picks up further passengers from Morchit.

Worrying, I use them quite often. They appear to be one of the more reputable companies as their fleet seems well looked after and they stick to their scheduled wroute, unlike so many others who stop all over the place dropping off customers.

Why is there no technology to warn bus and lorry drivers when they are about to fall asleep? This is a major problem all over the world and I wouldn't have thought it would be difficult to invent a piece of equipment to monitor a driver's breathing pattern say and wake him/her up before falling asleep! Having owned a minivan company for a few years, I know full well that tiredness is a big problem for professional drivers.

Face recognition software could probably work out if the drivers eyes have shut for more than a second or 2... attach that to a cattle prod that is inserted into the rectum of the driver when he gets into the vehicle and hey presto!

children used as guarantor nothing suprises me.

TIT, many would happily sell the grand parents for enough to buy an iphone.

We're just now starting to see the tip of the iceberg of problems this rice scam has caused. I hope Thaksin is proud of himself.

Sadly I feel sure he is VERY proud of himself.

I do hope they remembered to tell Chalerm

alt=clap2.gif width=31 height=25> alt=cheesy.gif width=32 height=20> ... Priceless !! ... 50 BIBs to protect the " granary" from Sponateous Combustion ... alt=cheesy.gif width=32 height=20> ...

Priceless...your ridiculous interpretation of the report.

Ridiculous, how so?

The article states they are sending 50 BIB's to protect it and also they claim it was not arson, which leaves spontaneous combustion (from rotten rice) or it caught fire due to burning taking place in a neighboring field, which as the article states the fire was in the middle of the stack seems highly unlikely. The most logical assumption is the rice was rotten.

Out of interest, what is your interpretation of the report?

People question the policy of losing money on a Rice subsidy plan. Well, many industrialized nation has govt programs for subsidized food products. It is very common. USA subsidizes our farmers to help them maintain farms against less costly products that are imported from other countries.

Yes that is correct but can Thailand afford to lose $3 to $5billion per year on this, not to mention the damage to the export business? It is also a matter of the apparent corruption (not suggesting there is no corruption in the west).

If you really wanted to help the farmers the best way is direct payments, not buying the rice and stockpiling it in the mistaken hope of pushing the global price up. Barring a massive global catastrophe the price of Thai rice will only continue to drop as everyone knows they have a massive stockpile that no one wants to buy. The scam has cost at least twice what it would have if they just paid the farmers directly; in addition they have destroyed the Thai rice export business and driven down it's resale value.

Do you not know that this rice policy is setup to lose money. This is the very purpose of the program. It loses approx. 20% and has done so for 2 years. All payments are up to date thru Oct 2013. (Some bilks owed for Sept due to confirmation of paperwork). These are all facts.

20% loss! What planet have you been on for the past 2 years? You must be joking, the losses are at least 50%. Look at the latest proposed sale. They bought at 15,000 per ton and are planning to sell 1.2 million tons at 8,300 per ton (45% drop in value)... and that does not take into account the admin and storage costs.

I would love to see the 'facts' you claim to have regarding a 20% loss, please post.

The extremely large hole in this is where is the cash coming from?

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Apparently the banks, although I can't see too many banks agreeing to use rice as collateral. Far too many holes is this idea for it to have a remote chance of working.

Again this article has more dubious numbers being quoted.

The govt is to release another 467,000 tons, for which they expect to get Baht 10billion = 21,385 per ton (no chance when the global price is nearer 12,000 per ton)

or

The govt is to release another 1.2million tons, for which they expect to get Baht 10billion = 8,300 per ton (more realistic and gives a good idea just how much money these idiots are costing the country.

But, either way it's a drop in the ocean of the money owed to the farmers.

Will he next announce his plans to arrest the Red Bull founder?

This guy should stick to stand up comedy.

Suthep said he had gathered Bt25 million in donations for farmers and would use the money as a court fees for farmers to sue the government.

That is why he gathered money? That is how he will help farmers?

All those guys are a joke. Both sides...

While I agree with your sentiments, it would be pointless giving 1 million farmers Baht 25 each. I was wondering what the hell these idiots planned on doing with this money.

"Thailand sought to recoup the money paid to farmers by hoarding rice to drive up prices on world markets, but it was unable to find buyers after rival producers such as India and Vietnam unexpectedly boosted their shipments."

SHOULD THAT NOT READ

"...but it was unable to find buyers after rival producers such as India and Vietnam refused to go along with Thaskin's plan for major rice producing nations to hoard rice to drive up international prices." Additionally Thailand ignored the international reaction to the aftermath of the food crisis in 2008, where major grain producing nations decided to increase stockpiles to cope with future global shortages."

IN SHORT IT WAS BLEEDING OBVIOUS TO EVEN A 5TH GRADER THAT THIS SCHEME WOULD HEMORRHAGE MONEY... EVEN WITHOUT THE CORRUPTION.

Maybe the farmers should seek Suthep's help in putting pressure on the EC to clearly agree that the caretaker government can borrow the money. While this seems to be the obvious solution, Suthep may feel that any solution would undermine his current anti-government rhetoric.

Are you nuts, they should strip the Shinawatra's of their assets, that would be enough to pay the farmers, and keep paying them for the coming decade

Are you stupid? While I would also like to see Thaksin pay out the fact is the Thai govt made an agreement to buy the farmers rice at XX price. They cannot legally renege on this and at some point a Thai govt is going to have to fulfill this agreement and pay up for the rice already bought. I do not understand why some people are so keen to see the already poor farmers lose everything. People are already losing houses, cars, land etc, while these political games are played out.

At the end of the day this or the next Thai govt WILL have to pay it's bill to the farmers, delaying this payment any further only ensures more suffering.

They are going to pay the farmers with 712 million Baht? Guy's you owe them something like 130 billion. &lt;deleted&gt;?

He be a dead man now.

My thought too. I think there must be a mounting toll of thugs that needed to disappear. Ho hum.

Anyway, lets face it, he must be a Khmer!

oh great another bunch of do gooders who want to brainwash groom future protestors. You have teachers now telling the kids that parents aren't their masters and you don't have to respect them or do as they say. Kids are individuals and not owned by parents. This just sounds like phase two to chip away and break down society.

While I agree with most of what you say, in my opinion Thai society has already broken down, the country is a basket case.

Pointless article though because even if he had something useful to say, he's a Farang, so he is wasting his breath.

Speaking of Army helping out on the Suthep side. Pic of Asoke now. Sunday evening is usually one of the busyier times.

a. Where are all the 6 million people supposed to be holding Bangkok to ransom.

b. Why, if there is no plot by the elites to get Suthep in power are the Police not allowed to move this sad rabble along?

Not sure but possibly the same reason they did sweet FA in 2010 when some other bunch of protesters set up huge barricades and closed parts of central Bangkok.