Nickymaster

So the numbers are bad. Good that we all agree (incl. CMK).

-Are they bad because of mismanagement by PT?

-Are they very bad because of mismanagement by PT?

Should anybody in PT government take responsibility for this fiasco?

(I am not even talking about all the corruption this scheme is plagued with).

He gave assurances that the government will carefully spend the money and said that Mr Abhisit’s proposal to seek annual budgets for the purpose, instead of the Bt2 trillion in overall loans, could disrupt the projects’ continuity when a government changes.

I wouldn't believe the feckers if they told me it was dark at night

Correct. So it comes down to "TRUST ME". And why shouldn't anybody trust PT? After all they already have successfully AND transparently spend a few hundred billion on the rice scheme..........

CMK those are bad numbers and if this trend continues for the rest of the year losses will be huge.

They only sold 796,304 tons.in the first quarter?!

I didn't say they were good but they are accurate. Moodys are not chumps. But numbers are numbers. I like numbers. I don't like the useless exaggerations like "mountains of rotting rice." On a positive note Russia and China are buying and the baht is going down which will help sales.

I didn't say they were good but they are accurate.

LOL....I didn't say that you said they were good. Did I?

They have earned 33 billion in the first quarter. Their administrative and storage costs are around 40 billion/year......

CMK those are bad numbers and if this trend continues for the rest of the year losses will be huge.

They only sold 796,304 tons.in the first quarter?!

I thought the job of Police is to "Serve and Protect" So where is the protection and I do not understand how backed up traffic is more important than a mans life.

So there is a traffic back up. They Stop traffic for for others in higher rank. You have been on the Highway when traffic is halted for government officials. So why not a dying man

Amazing Thailand

I thought the job of Police is to "Serve and Protect"

yes it is but unfortunately they serve and protect only a few.

Surely the DSI will charge the cop with premeditated murder....

Even if the loss is only () 100 biillion THB (3,3 biilion USD), then it's ok?????

Oh, just get it over with and have another coup.

No need, it will self implode, just a matter of when.

Correct. There will be no coup because that would only serve Thaksin. Another reason for him to blame the army and the Dems for destroying democracy in Thailand.

Sadly enough Thailand has to wait until the country is in really deep s..t before the public will understand that the Shins are not the best option to run Thailand.

In the past few months I have travelled from Chiang Mai to Hua Hin and from Chiang Mai to Plok, khoen Kaen, Surin, Pattaya, Bangkok and back to Chiang Mai. Along the way I have passed many rice storage facilities and the rice is piled in buildings and in the open air as high as 10 meters high. The stench is beyond description I would not want to live near one of these facilities because of the smell. For the government not to know the condition and quality of what they have spent billions on is criminal.

Between Khoen Kaen and Surin there was rice stored in a football field sized area in heaps about 2 to 5 meters in height there were puddles of water scattered in the area as well as a white power piled around as well, this looked like a dumping area as opposed to a storage areas that are usually on concrete slabs. Good luck to these folks getting a handle on this situation as it appears to be a total mess

Be careful what you see, Nathawut might have you arrested for spying. He earlier threatened a Dem MP to have him arrested for visiting a storage facility.

Its top secret...

Is that true? ...that he threatened a Dem MP for visiting a storage facility. Where are all the worlds decent investigative journalists when you need them?

It is also funny that these buffoons are stating that Moody's are completely wrong. This is team Shiniwatra that had export figures at 10.8% when it should have been 2.8% and budgets 100% over the amount needed because of a typing error. I guess the team of global economic specialists who have worked the worlds financial markets for decades are all wrong. I bet they're having some laughs over coffee today.

It is true.

Please Google:

democrat mp shows rotten rice in parliament

In the past few months I have travelled from Chiang Mai to Hua Hin and from Chiang Mai to Plok, khoen Kaen, Surin, Pattaya, Bangkok and back to Chiang Mai. Along the way I have passed many rice storage facilities and the rice is piled in buildings and in the open air as high as 10 meters high. The stench is beyond description I would not want to live near one of these facilities because of the smell. For the government not to know the condition and quality of what they have spent billions on is criminal.

Between Khoen Kaen and Surin there was rice stored in a football field sized area in heaps about 2 to 5 meters in height there were puddles of water scattered in the area as well as a white power piled around as well, this looked like a dumping area as opposed to a storage areas that are usually on concrete slabs. Good luck to these folks getting a handle on this situation as it appears to be a total mess

Be careful what you see, Nathawut might have you arrested for spying. He earlier threatened a Dem MP to have him arrested for visiting a storage facility.

Its top secret...

It seems that most responders to this thread are doing their best to destroy Thailands credibility since they must know that what is written here is devoured by the currency marketers.

Shame on all of those guilty of joining the feeding frenzy of the foreign community that would attempt to keep Thailand's sovereign ratings low. In a sense you are Traitors because none of you know what you are talking about simply because the actual figures have not been published.

You are joking right?

You can hear the pencil sharpeners working overtime to try some creative arithmetic to hide the actual losses and substitute a doctored number.

I seem to recall Thaksin saying Yingluck should be kept in the dark about the rice scam to give her credible deniability, well lets see if that tactic works.

September 26, 2011 12:00 am: "Pridiyathorn warned that the government would face big trouble - corruption in its huge rice stockpile, and loss of budget spending to subsidise the programme. Losing the No 1 position also means losing foreign-exchange earnings," Pridiyathorn said while pointing out that the unrealistically high price of Thai rice will make exports difficult. http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Pridiyathorn-warns-against-rice-pledging-scheme-30166099.html

September 25, 2012 1:00 am: Former PM Thaksin Shinawatra voiced support yesterday for the government’s controversial rice price-pledging programme, saying it should be extended for several more years. He rebuffed critics who say the policy has increased public debt, encouraged corruption, distorted the market and eroded Thailand's position as a leading rice exporter. The programme, under which the government buys rice from farmers at well above market rates, reaps economic gains that are about three times the programme's cost, Thaksin claimed. http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Rice-scheme-good-for-a-few-years-30191053.html

Pridiyathorn was sacked for his opinions and Thaksin is uncharacteristically quiet.

If you assume (try to convince the public) that the rice you have stored for months/years (imagine the storage cost) can be sold far above the world market price, yes then the losses might eventually be less.... Sadly, I believe many Thais will believe it..

THAT'S how this government is manipulating the numbers and the population...

Didn't it go up and down every day, just like every day?

What the hell is this press release for? Please be aware that currencies go up and down? Thanks for that.

I think this message is for Kitirat who believes that the BOT is solely responsible for any moment of the baht .

This is really bad. Just as I was expecting. Thailand IS the next Cambodia.

"Natthawut, speaking after the Cabinet meeting, said Yingluck had approved his idea to launch a mobile public relations campaign to raise awareness of the rice-pledging scheme with farmers across the country. The first event would be held in Phitsanulok on Sunday (June 9).

Explanations would be given to farmers during the rally, while a compilation of details on the scheme would be collected. The Bt260 billion figure was likely to be inaccurate and calculated from a "misuse of criteria", he said."

I'm puzzled by this. I thought farmers were aware of the 'rice-pledging scheme' and already made use of it. I mean two years of THB 300 billion spend surely went to farmers, now didn't it?

BTW rather than explain to farmers who already know, wouldn't it be better to explain to Moody's or doesn't that matter?

Farmers are waking up it seems so time for PT to put them back to sleep. Expect some phone ins from Thaksin.

The farmers are most probably questioning where all those few hundred billions went. "Huh? We didn't get that much. Somebody must be getting much more than us..."

The scheme is becoming a huge problem for Thailand. I can't see how these farmers can ever survive without government "help". What is the government going to say next year (I mean after the next election): "Ok farmers, enough help and now its up to you to become competitive again..... "

What is going on with Super Chalerm? Is he losing his Mojo? I was expecting him to solve the problem within 3 months...

LAW ENFORCEMENT is what Thailand needs.

If only the police would do what it is being paid for by the taxpayers, the majority of all problems in Thailand could be solved.

But...since the police force is directly controlled by the Shin family and Chalerm, don't expect much change.

Local business tycoon Sombat Thatpaiboon was starting to regret buying an "under the counter" Lamborghini to save a few baht..........

What wheels are those?

VW

The premier also said that Thailand is embarking on major infrastructure projects such as highspeed trains that would link Thailand with its
neighbours, Laos among them, and that the infrastructure link would eventually extend to China, Russia and Europe.

Uuhh? Dear Yingluck, I know your brother needs some money to play with but this is really the wrong congress to mention this. Just don't over do it if you want to be taken serious.

Normal practice in these cases is that the DSI will get the cars and they will sell them...

Shame on theese people, super rich but they still want more, in this case cheeting the government out of rightful tax money. They seem to forget that the government is in fact the people so they steal from the people. And how many times do we hear, the person investigated is moved to an inactive position, after a few months the case is forgotten, a small guy in the scam get a slap on the hands and life goes on. After all the commites put together to look into corruption the last 30 yrs, nothing has come of it, absolutly nothing. To day the corruption is worse than ever. Whatever happend to that government guy moved to an inactive position in the government office. Under a break in in his house, the thiefs found so much money in his house that they couldnt carry it out to the car. He could not explain where all the millions came from. Probably still working inactive position in government offices. How can the thais ever hope to get rid of graft when the system is working like this.

You are right with your story BUT the majority of Thais support corruption (as long as they can share a bit).

Why should we foreigners care if Thais don't care? The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

And the poor (with a bit of propaganda from the party they "support") are even willing to fight for (die) for their party.

Let go!

I for one care because I live here and have made it my home . . . what affects the Thai's affects me also.

+ 1

I'm married to a nice Thai women, we still love each other after 11 years. Generalizations don't really work all around the world.

Would anybody blame all Americans, if there was one who robbed a bank?--

I am so happy for you that you are happy with your nice Thai lady.

Anyhow..

In my post I am not blaming anybody. I am not generalizing neither. I am just saying that maybe we should stop judging how bad corruption is in Thailand if most of the Thais can live with it. It seems that we care more than most of them.

Maybe it's part of the culture? Who knows..

Shame on theese people, super rich but they still want more, in this case cheeting the government out of rightful tax money. They seem to forget that the government is in fact the people so they steal from the people. And how many times do we hear, the person investigated is moved to an inactive position, after a few months the case is forgotten, a small guy in the scam get a slap on the hands and life goes on. After all the commites put together to look into corruption the last 30 yrs, nothing has come of it, absolutly nothing. To day the corruption is worse than ever. Whatever happend to that government guy moved to an inactive position in the government office. Under a break in in his house, the thiefs found so much money in his house that they couldnt carry it out to the car. He could not explain where all the millions came from. Probably still working inactive position in government offices. How can the thais ever hope to get rid of graft when the system is working like this.

You are right with your story BUT the majority of Thais support corruption (as long as they can share a bit).

Why should we foreigners care if Thais don't care? The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

And the poor (with a bit of propaganda from the party they "support") are even willing to fight for (die) for their party.

Let go!

As I've said before, if I were an Arab, I'd be really upset about the "copyright infringement" of "Thai Spring".

It's good that you are not an Arab. If these things can make you angry...

Yep I remember the yellow shirts doing that BUT as far as I'm aware there was only one Democrat Mp (foreign minister) that actually went to the rallies. Oh he was also an arse.

Sent from my i-mobile i-STYLE Q6

You consider what happened in Bangkok at that time to be 'rallies'

>The Guardian

Wednesday 26 November 2008

International flights to and from Thailand's main airport were halted

last night after rampaging anti-government protesters surged through

police cordons and stormed the sprawling terminal.

The airports' authority said it had no choice but to close Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi

airport as the yellow-shirted protesters carrying iron bars smashed

doors and roamed the concourses.

The demonstrators from the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), which is dedicated to bringing down the prime minister, caused mayhem across Bangkok as they fired on

government supporters and left 11 injured, one critically.

They carried bars and smashed doors. WHOOOAAAW. Thugs!!