Farmers Now Forbidden From Drying Rice On Roads

[webfact]

 

RICE FARMERS ARE NO LONGER allowed to literally put their product to dry on the surface of rural roads anywhere or else they could be immediately arrested, a government official confirmed today (Jan.11).

 

The Rural Roads Department has issued a regulation to terminate the common practice of literally strewing the newly-harvested rice on the surface of the road, albeit only those with more than one lane, to dry in the sun.

 

Such a natural way of drying the rice is practised now and then by farmers in all regions of the country since the price of humidity-coated rice could be slashed by the buying merchants or millers to the chagrin of the farmers.

 

Some may have literally occupied one lane of a two-lane rural road with their purposely strewn rice for a matter of days at a time whilst others may have laid tarps over their product at night.

 

By Thai Newsroom Reporters

Rice spread out on the road to dry. Photo: Matichon

 

Full story: THAI NEWSROOM 2024-01-12

 

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[Pique Dard]

  On 1/11/2024 at 10:01 PM, webfact said:

Some may have literally occupied one lane of a two-lane rural road with their purposely strewn rice for a matter of days at a time whilst others may have laid tarps over their product at night.

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...now I understand why my rice sometimes smells of petrol

[flyingtlger]

I dunno, but sound pretty unsanitary....

 

 

[StayinThailand2much]

Rice from the road surface onto the dinner table; yum!

[msbkk]

It is a common sight when travelling in Isaan rural areas. For those here who are surprised I suggest to visit the real Thailand outside the tourist ghettos.

[sungod]

  On 1/12/2024 at 12:30 AM, msbkk said:

It is a common sight when travelling in Isaan rural areas. For those here who are surprised I suggest to visit the real Thailand outside the tourist ghettos.

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Yes, it will be nice to take a look at some of the crop burning areas in rural Issan too.

[Foxx]

There times "literally" in that short extract.  How else are farmers going to strew rice? Metaphorically?

 

For that matter, they don't "strew" the rice - it's not scattered untidily (which is what the word means), but rather raked into a thin, even layer.

[Bobthegimp]

  On 1/11/2024 at 10:01 PM, webfact said:

literally

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  On 1/11/2024 at 10:01 PM, webfact said:

literally

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  On 1/11/2024 at 10:01 PM, webfact said:

literally

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Let me guess, a millennial wrote this article. It's like the trash written on reddit. 

[novacova]

  On 1/12/2024 at 1:28 AM, Bobthegimp said:

 

 

 

Let me guess, a millennial wrote this article. It's like the trash written on reddit. 

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Literally 😀

[Pouatchee]

a couple years ago (about 8 i think) someone skidded on rice lain on a curb and died. they were supposed to stop the practice then.

in a nutshell... nothing will ever be enforced

[motdaeng]

  On 1/11/2024 at 10:01 PM, webfact said:

RICE FARMERS ARE NO LONGER allowed to literally put their product to dry on the surface of rural roads anywhere or else they could be immediately arrested, a government official confirmed today (Jan.11).

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will it be enforced similarly to the burning ban? we all know how that turned out ... nothing happened!!!

[lordgrinz]

  On 1/12/2024 at 2:38 AM, motdaeng said:

 

will it be enforced similarly to the burning ban? we all know how that turned out ... nothing happened!!!

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Just light the corner of the tarps on fire, problem solved.....a little more smoke won't hurt anything.

[sungod]

  On 1/12/2024 at 2:30 AM, Pouatchee said:

a couple years ago (about 8 i think) someone skidded on rice lain on a curb and died. they were supposed to stop the practice then.

in a nutshell... nothing will ever be enforced

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Try 2 months ago!

 

 

[mikebell]

The real villains are the millers who exploit the rice farmers on price if it is not dried.  Surely all petrol fumes are removed when milling? 

RTP refuse to implement the law on seatbelts in the back of pickups; they will do the same with this nonsensical law (unless it's been a lean month).

[bunnydrops]

  On 1/12/2024 at 2:38 AM, motdaeng said:

 

will it be enforced similarly to the burning ban? we all know how that turned out ... nothing happened!!!

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I don't think this one will be enforced. But as for the burning, it has all but stopped in my area (west of Phimai). Cane fields use stripper machines now to remove the leaf.

[Pouatchee]

  On 1/12/2024 at 3:26 AM, sungod said:

Try 2 months ago!

 

 

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well, sadly, that is a new one to be added to the statisics  bunch of selfish idiots

i bet they did not even bother to put 'the warning branches' they always put on the road

[Bangkok Barry]

  On 1/11/2024 at 11:10 PM, StayinThailand2much said:

Rice from the road surface onto the dinner table; yum!

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Look more carefully at the photo. They never lay the rice directly on the road surface.

[Burma Bill]

  On 1/12/2024 at 12:30 AM, msbkk said:

It is a common sight when travelling in Isaan rural areas. For those here who are surprised I suggest to visit the real Thailand outside the tourist ghettos.

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 Yes indeed - and thanks.  During my 20 years living in Thailand,first in Lanna and then in Isaan, drying rice on roads was a way of life (some may say culture) during the rice harvest season.  The "Townies" and "Beach/Bar Bums" in the south have no idea. The dried rice is put into sacks and stored until required. These sacks are transported to a rice mill where the husks are removed to provide the rice grains which you cook. Anything coming out of beaurocratic Bangkok that affects this practise will, IMO, be ignored across the vast rural areas of Northern Thailand. Many of the local police and administration own farms and harvest rice this way.

 

Interestingly, does this ban also include TEA?  (in some mountain areas of North West Thailand e.g. Doi Mae Salong, which I used to visit as a Volunteer with the Tourist Police based in Chiang Rai)

 

 

[hotchilli]

  On 1/11/2024 at 10:01 PM, webfact said:

RICE FARMERS ARE NO LONGER allowed to literally put their product to dry on the surface of rural roads anywhere or else they could be immediately arrested, a government officia

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It will stop immediately, just like the crop burning.

[Burma Bill]

  On 1/12/2024 at 5:57 AM, Bangkok Barry said:

 

Look more carefully at the photo. They never lay the rice directly on the road surface.

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Absolutely correct. The farmers (and other village folk) generally use fine meshed blue netting - easy to gather in, as in fishing!

[soalbundy]

  On 1/11/2024 at 11:08 PM, flyingtlger said:

I dunno, but sound pretty unsanitary....

 

 

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On plastic sheets......before the rice is de=husked obviously.

[soalbundy]

Nobody will adhere to this law and the police (in rural areas) will also let the missus and family dry his rice on the road, so no arrests either.

[dinsdale]

 

  On 1/11/2024 at 10:01 PM, webfact said:

Such a natural way of drying the rice is practised now and then by farmers in all regions

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It is not "now and then." If a driveway or other area is not available it is a common practice and can be seen everywhere during harvest season. Another empty headed fool coming out with a thought bubble policy. This is the mesh that is used.

[Andycoops]

Hilarious, as if the BiB are going to come out of the Aircon office and free WiFi to tour the villages looking for rice drying on the road.

 

We haven't seen a policeman for years in my village, the last came to lock up serial burglar and drug dealer and only after money was paid... 555

[khunjeff]

  On 1/12/2024 at 6:09 AM, Burma Bill said:

Interestingly, does this ban also include TEA?

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Or shrimp, which is also dried on the road in some areas?

[PolarAttack]

This isn’t a new regulation, it pops up every other year.  The problem is not creating regulations. It’s enforcing them.  Farmers need to dry the rice somewhere. So they just use the road.  They need to burn stuff so they burn stuff.  Nothing ever changes when it comes to that.

[itsallmine68]

  On 1/11/2024 at 11:08 PM, flyingtlger said:

I dunno, but sound pretty unsanitary....

 

 

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then you dont understand the process of farming, Cattle thrive in manure, pigs roll in their own excrement, fish swim in their own urine etc

[Guderian]

This evening's meal - we're out of khao horm malee, so would you khao horm diesen or khao horm yang?

[Will B Good]

OMG...What next?....Make them drive on the correct side of the road?  Give traffic signals, park tractors properly, look before exiting a side road............  Get off their backs.

[BritScot]

  On 1/11/2024 at 11:08 PM, flyingtlger said:

I dunno, but sound pretty unsanitary....

 

 

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You want to see them drying chilli!!! You would never eat a dry chilli again. Rats running all over it.