Economy Farmers Plead for Government Help as Paddy Prices Crash Below Instant Noodles

[webfact]

File photo courtesy of Wikipedia

 

Farmers in Khon Kaen, Thailand, are urging the government for immediate intervention as paddy rice prices drop to a shocking low of 6 Thai Baht per kilogramme, outpriced by everyday instant noodles, usually costing about 7 Baht.

 

Reporters from Amarin TV found that, despite a decent yield, the profit margin for rice farmers in Ban Kota village has plummeted, leaving them in financial distress. With heavy rains on the horizon, there's more pressure on them to complete their harvest quickly.

 

Mr. Pongpichit Khunkota, a 50-year-old farmer, recounted that last year he managed to sell his paddy at 8 to 10 Baht per kg, but this year’s prices have nose-dived.

 

Alongside the grand fall in rice prices, other farming costs such as oil and transportation have steadily risen, he explained, despite a moderate fall in fertiliser expenses.

 

The selling price setback means a kilogramme of rice doesn't even match the cost of instant noodles, laying bare the dire economic condition for those who depend on rice farming.

 

Ms. Amara Singhpim, 67, another farmer, expressed frustration over the 6 Baht per kg rate for dry paddy, stating it sinks lower to 5 Baht if the crop is moist.

 

Despite harvesting from her six-rai field, she only garnered about 30,000 Baht—a sum inadequate for financing the next planting season without additional income sources.

 

Both farmers and others in the community are appealing to the government not only for the previously announced 1,000 Baht per rai aid but also to facilitate a price increase to at least 8–9 Baht per kg for paddy rice.

 

The farmers' appeal reflects a poignant struggle linking agricultural income with basic financial survival.

 

As the rainy season nears, the pressure mounts on rice farmers to tackle low prices amid growing costs, underscoring an urgent need for governmental intervention to alleviate their plight and ensure the sustainability of their livelihoods.

 

  Adapted by ASEAN Now from [source] 2025-05-26

 

 

[FlorC]

What they need is a new rice scheme .

Yingluck is ready to help with her 10 billion. 😉

[Quentin Zen]

this is food, so the government should subsidize.  take loans, issue bonds, do whatever.... food is key.  

 

wait until all the programmers get priced out by AI and their salaries go to 0.   This is life.   Adapting is hard.  We all learn.

 

new Tourist Visa..... Rice farming visa.  RFV.   100,000 baht for 10-year visa, all proceeds go to farmers.  

[factual monk]

Sad to see the flights of farmers ... 

[hotchilli]

17 minutes ago, Quentin Zen said:

this is food, so the government should subsidize.  take loans, issue bonds, do whatever.... food is key. 

Have you ever seen a poor rice miller... [the ones who got rich with Yingluks rice pledging scam] ?

All the middle men and retailers make the huge profits, the farmer is screwed by the system.

Subsidies are not the answer, paying the farmers a fair price is.

[digger70]

Farmers Plead for Government Help as Paddy Prices Crash Below Instant Noodles

 

That's life on the farm, Price for produce goes up an down no good Crying to the Govment .

When the farmers got top price for their produce they don't complain do they, 

Maybe they should've put some money in the bank  to make up for the lean years. 

My parents had to do that  ( and work at different jobs in the Slack season ) back in the day in the Netherlands , that worked for them . 

[J Branche]

So the average low priced 5kg bag of Rice is about 140 baht.

 

At 6 baht a Kilogram that's a 466% price increase.  6 X 5 = 30, 140 / 30 = 4.66.

 

Sounds like typical Thai business practice, corruption and exploit the poor farmer.

 

I've seen Rice prices edge up in the grocery so the volume of new rice crops harvested must be above average

[ukrules]

I would think the entire industry would fall to ruin before anything is done to meddle with it based on what happened before.

 

Now the concept of 'personal liability' for actions taken by a PM has been introduced what incentive is there to do anything which might come back to haunt a PM later, regardless of the consequences?

 

[SOTIRIOS]

...Running The Country Into the Ground...(?)

...How Much Money Was 'Allocated' For This, That And The Other Thing, Since This Government Came In...

...Such A Shame...

[dinsdale]

Paddy price plunges but retail price doesn't. Produce rice for a net loss as the millers get even richer. 

[scorecard]

2 hours ago, hotchilli said:

Have you ever seen a poor rice miller... [the ones who got rich with Yingluks rice pledging scam] ?

All the middle men and retailers make the huge profits, the farmer is screwed by the system.

Subsidies are not the answer, paying the farmers a fair price is.

 

"...

[the ones who got rich with Yingluks rice pledging scam] ?

All the middle men and retailers make the huge profits, the farmer is screwed by the system. Subsidies are not the answer, paying the farmers a fair price is."

 

Perhaps a much more professional and better educated / experienced government could rework how rice works and get things into more realistic / balanced /non-corrupt system.  

[Isaan sailor]

Rice is the preferred crop—lower  maintenance, and not easy to steal, like higher value vegetables and fruits. Tough for Thai farmers competing with India on the world market.  Government should hype the superior quality of the Hom Mali variety grown in Isaan.

[MarkBR]

Maybe they could grow some other kinds of rice that are really expensive such as carnaroli.  Used in Italian risotto.  Due to droughts, Italy has had major problems growing large amounts of suitable risotto rice varieties.

An idea, it depends of the costs of getting it to  market that might want it.  If the transport costs are sufficiently low, then it might be more profitable than Thai rice.

[black tabby12345]

4 hours ago, FlorC said:

What they need is a new rice scheme .

Yingluck is ready to help with her 10 billion. 😉

 

Not the Noble Obligation in Thailand.

Instead,  she simply owes that amount to the farmers.

[Srikcir]

14 hours ago, webfact said:

Farmers in Khon Kaen, Thailand, are urging the government for immediate intervention as paddy rice prices drop

Been there, done that.

"Thai rice farmers demand better support as prices plummet," updated Feb. 21, 2025

https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/thai-rice-farmers-demand-better-support-as-prices-plummet

• Thai government measures to support rice farmers have failed to meet expectations, with some growers in the world’s second-largest rice exporting country vowing protests as they are squeezed between falling prices and rising cultivation costs.
• We are not happy with the measures. I think the government is not sincere with farmers at all,” said Mr Thitiwat Kleepmalai, a farmer leader from Ayutthaya province"

Thailand’s centuries-old rice cultivation system is under severe stress from climate change, unsustainable farm debts and a lack of innovation, despite tens of billions of dollars in subsidies over the past decade.

Subsidies will not change the economic dynamics of unprofitable Thai rice production. Nor will street protests.

[scorecard]

Overall how much hi-tech mechanization is being used across rice farms in Thailand?

 

And what sophisticated systems are in place to minimize water usage?

 

Anybody have any solid insights into these points? Please share.

[factual monk]

They are (govt) more interested in Casino and Formula 1... than taking care of farmers who are the backbone of the food supply chain... 

[Patong2021]

11 hours ago, Quentin Zen said:

this is food, so the government should subsidize.  take loans, issue bonds, do whatever.... food is key.  

 

wait until all the programmers get priced out by AI and their salaries go to 0.   This is life.   Adapting is hard.  We all learn.

 

new Tourist Visa..... Rice farming visa.  RFV.   100,000 baht for 10-year visa, all proceeds go to farmers.  

 

AI  will not price out programmers. It might remove the mediocre misfits, but there will always be errors with AI and a need to develop new software. The good software developers and programmers will always have a job and be as necessary as always.

[Pouatchee]

14 hours ago, factual monk said:

Sad to see the flights of farmers ... 

 

yeah ... seeing those farmers fly really makes me sad...   it is a real PLIGHT for me when I have to fly...

[Andytheburiramman]

The cheapest rice costs my wife 35 baht a kilogramme in our local market, so where or who is making the profits 🤔 

[JimHuaHin]

And how much of this "problem" is due to the giant agribusinesses whose massive influence impact the price of rice and the price of the farming inputs that must be purchased from the "specified" companies?

[phetphet]

Sell to Japan. Their rice price has gone through the roof.

[FlorC]

2 hours ago, Andytheburiramman said:

The cheapest rice costs my wife 35 baht a kilogramme in our local market, so where or who is making the profits 🤔 

I buy 5 kg for about 100 B at Makro.

So 20 B/kg.

[farmerjo]

To control air pollution,rice farmers were told this year if they burn the fields the penalty would be lose of subsidies for three years.

No subsidies equals no incentive,farmers around here are just planting enough for family consumption.

The 1000 baht was  a major help to offset (no burning) field preparations.

 

 

 

 

[factual monk]

10 hours ago, Pouatchee said:

 

yeah ... seeing those farmers fly really makes me sad...   it is a real PLIGHT for me when I have to fly...

Yes it's typing error... I know but I couldn't get into edit it again...

[Phantom57]

As a rice “ farmer” in Isaan, a few points.
When farmers say 5 Baht a kilo, the Millers pay about 10 Baht a kilo for milled rice as nearly half the weight is bran. Yes, cheap and then sell the bran for chicken food. If the Rice Millers were regulated like the Sugar Millers, then they would be pressured to offer higher prices . Sugar industry is backed up by some very high people pressuring for high prices. 

Now Scorecard mentioned technology to ensure water efficiency. Many years ago, I tried to buy a Laser Land Leveller in  Thailand. None were made so I imported one from India. I level my fields to less than 1 cm to preserve the little water we get at times. 
All my rice is grown organically and it has taken about 6 years for the soil to get rid of the poisons and chemical fertilisers. Last year was my first crop yields comparable with yields using Chemicals. ( I don’t live in Surin where there is an Organic Cooperative). Most Thais couldn’t take the reduced yield for many years, they need to survive. You can’t blame them for not going Organic.

[UWEB]

That's instant Karma for the reckless and criminal Farmers. Burning their Fields and heavily polluting the Air, taking a complete Country as Hostage and sending 12.3 million people to the Hospitals and Clinics in 2024 with Breathing issues. Now they get the Bill for and I hope that the price goes down to 1 THB per metric Ton.

[KireB]

On 5/26/2025 at 1:15 PM, Quentin Zen said:

this is food, so the government should subsidize.  take loans, issue bonds, do whatever.... food is key.  

 

wait until all the programmers get priced out by AI and their salaries go to 0.   This is life.   Adapting is hard.  We all learn.

 

new Tourist Visa..... Rice farming visa.  RFV.   100,000 baht for 10-year visa, all proceeds go to farmers.  

Programmers will not be replaced by AI. Bad programmers will. Just like teachers, doctors, supermarket employees, restaurant workers, and on and on. You better go with the flow.

[unblocktheplanet]

On 5/26/2025 at 5:04 PM, MarkBR said:

Maybe they could grow some other kinds of rice that are really expensive such as carnaroli.  Used in Italian risotto.  Due to droughts, Italy has had major problems growing large amounts of suitable risotto rice varieties.

An idea, it depends of the costs of getting it to  market that might want it.  If the transport costs are sufficiently low, then it might be more profitable than Thai rice.

I have not seen canaroli rice on shelves here but imported arborio rice for risotto is.