allan michaud

BANGKOK: -- Thailand, set to be the world’s biggest rice exporter this year, may harvest a record crop as a government plan to lift farm income boosted planting, said the Office of Agricultural Economics.

Production of unmilled rice in the year started October will increase 9.4 percent to 37.9 million metric tons from a year earlier, while planting area expanded 0.8 percent to 78.8 million rai

What a badly written article. Production and export is not the same thing. It is pretty obvious from the many reports over the past few months that exports are down massively this year, while production has miraculously risen almost 10% despite the fact that the total land being planted has barely changed.

It would appear that the suggestions of people reselling the same rice or selling imported rice to the scheme account for much of this sudden and dramatic increase.

That would just ensure the shopkeepers only offer the thief less than normal for the stolen laptop

Cambodian immigration is already light years ahead of Thailand. I have been using the Koh Kong or Aran crossings for 12 years. My last 3 trips thru Aran have been a nightmare. On the Khmer side it takes 2 or 3 mins, unless you turn up with all the tourist buses leaving Siem Reap at 7-6am. However on the Thai side scams are in full swing. 500baht gets you about halfway up the 1 to 1.5 hour line, not even to the front. While the Khmers have finger print scanners and a seemingly efficient computer system the Thais are merrily going as slowly as possible so their scam artists at the back of the line can generate more cash. Thailand is going backwards very fast. For me the biggest difference is the eagerness of many of the youth who want to learn and improve themselves and their country. I absolutely cannot say the same of Thai youth I have met.

Good to see something positive for a change. But what about prosecutions regarding the sale of the baby of the wild elephant?

As we all know if it says on the box 'up to 24 hours' that means you will be lucky to get 12.

This is yet another ill thought out dumb idea, brought to you by various authorities in Thailand. The incredible stupidity of people at the top in every facet of society is astounding. But that is what you get when people have to buy their positions rather than earn them.

I assume Thaksins seer's have predicted some global disasters for 2013 when Thailand can implement his great plan to make huge profits from global suffering.

What a grate guy.

I can't help thinking the title should have read "Thailand NEEDS to be top rice exporter in 2013"

They don't seem to understand the basics of Thai governance. There is only so much room at the trough at any one time. Anyway, 3 cabinets in 18 months must be approaching some kind of record, even by Thai standards, but then Thaksin does have an awful lot of people to keep happy until his big plan to collapse the Baht happens, then he will be even richer than before.

It appears everyone agrees the rice scam is doomed but the Govt, in sheer stupidity and arrogance, continues to cling to the wishes of Thaksin who is trying to manipulate the global market. What greater proof can there be that this narcissistic maniac cares nothing about Thailand and simply directs his puppets to gamble on his behalf using tax payers money? Throw this bunch of incompetent criminals out on their ear now, before the losses and theft of public funds compounds. Impeachment of the PM, no confidence censure, coup - whatever works, get rid of them before it's too late.

This is all being done to wreck the economy so when the Baht collapses (again) Thaksin's billions in foreign currency will be worth even more. After all he already has great experience of doing this in 97 when he, allegedly, shipped all his money off shore just before the collapse.

Well the Thai Airways boss did say he would bring more Thainess to the airline so maybe they did have something to do with it. Watch out for the airborne version of the jet-ski scam.

"From August 9 to October 12, 27 cases of pledging graft were reportedly found, involving 762 farmers and 60 other offenders. Those cases generated a loss of Bt313 million for the rice-pledging project. In four cases, government officials were involved."

27 cases?

762 plus 60 = 822

Typically only low level graft is being detected.

These supposed G2G deals are probably fictitious, given that they don't want to release any details of them to the public. Absolute farce.

41billion Baht! that sounds like peanuts, the telecom companies are making an absolute killing.

Not true... there are plenty of books on how to pick your lottery numbers!

The Prime Minister makes a reasonable comment, the BMA give an intelligent and truthful reply and the TVF "experts" are onto her like a rat pack in a sewer.

Love it.

Reasonable comment? "We have never known the actual capacity of the tunnels," said Yingluck"

This gives an indication that the govt doesn't even have any idea what it's doing?

Surely someone somewhere in Thailand is considered the countries leading expert and is leading a group of experts to assess various data and information (such as this) and develop a countrywide plan?

Piss-ups and breweries

This is about the airport scanners not the fake bomb detectors.

So we can expect the governments expenses to rise considerably too.

In the U.S. when you get traffic tickets for moving violations, the Insurance Companies start raising your rates.

Does anyone know if the Insurance companies in do that in Thailand also?

I don't know that there's any linkage between the police ticketing "system" and the insurance companies, I've renewed my insurance many many times and this has never been an issue. Any time I get a ticket it's usually a case of pay the officer a couple of hundred baht and the ticket then goes away. On the odd occaision when I've not been able to do that and I've had to pay at a police station, there's no evidence to suggest the ticket details were ever recorded anywhere.

In the UK I had to declare any offences on my licence to the insurance company and am am sure you would be expected to do so in the US too, here no idea what they do.

Does anyone know anything about the actual vehicle? Potentially very good for everyone, but... TIT!

Says volumes that the Deputy director says they may not be as efficient as previously believed. I guess it was just another pie in the sky idea from some pompous ass of a politician.

How about a 2 tiered taxi system with some real "green" taxis for inner Bangkok and big cities and use the more powerful petrol powered cars for longer journeys? Ah but that might upset the Tuk Tuks. Oh forget it.

Anyway I am sure they got to spend lots of money on studies and expenses.

The price of viagra and penis pumps must be going up.

Seriously though, they are considering letting the medical insurance companies get involved in medical reform. These corporations are the route of many of the problems in the first place.

A few possibilities here

- it was an honest mistake

- Thai army stiring up troubles ahead of CC verdict

- Cambodean army practising a 21-gun salute for tomorrow a bit past 3PM

trigger happy idiot startled by loud noise, could be the 4th....

That would be a 'drunken' trigger happy idiot, from my experience of the Cambodian military.

However, I do have to say that I was only 60kms from the border last year when it kicked off, photographing birds in northern Cambodia. Myself and a friend from Thailand listened to jets flying back and forth bombing the crap out of something. We were confused as we felt we were way too far from the border to hear the fighting. When we got back to the village in the evening they told us the Thai's had bombed an army base about 30kms north of us, which made more sense. Strangely this never made the news. We listened to this going on for about 2 hours with dozens of flights back and forth. I guess the Thai's didn't want to admit invading Cambodian airspace and Hun Sen is hardly likely to admit the Thai's can bomb the crap out of his army whenever they feel like it. The Cambodian air force (a load of old migs) has been slowly rusting at Potchentong airport for at least a decade, so I am pretty sure it wasn't them.

Well that's a hard story to believe.

I simply cannot believe anyone has Euros 30,000 just lying around (apart from people involved in something illegal). Either the man is a complete idiot, he's involved in something dodgy, he's trying to get some money from insurance, or possibly finding an excuse not to pay his dealer.

This story stinks.

I don't really understand the headline " might reinfect kids " -- have these kids who were infected already been infected at another time ? --- or are the kids whio were infected expecting to receive another infection ? -- if so from where ? and when ? The article really does not address anything about reinfection.

Can anyone help and explain to me just what this means.

...don't know how many times I had the sh**s here in Thailand from eggs......it's the storage / transport and handling that is wrong spoiling the eggs......

ever seen an 'egg pick-up truck' on the motorway driving around in the blazing sun with eggs on the back??????

recipe for disaster !!!

you might want to explain how you think it is "wrong".

Seriously, you don't understand that eggs being slowly cooked in the sun in the back of a pick (or other vehicle) is not a good idea? I think you will find most developed countries refrigerate the eggs from the earliest possible time until they are sold. Common sense.

"As a long-term measure, she ask people living in subsidence-risk areas to consider moving to safer areas."

I am sure people will be rushing to buy their land so they can afford to move somewhere safer.