Rice-Pledging: 'Huge Loss' On The Cards

[yumidesign]

Can I ask a simple question:

As I am aware, Rice grows UNDER WATER...

so,, technically, a LOT of rice in the flooded areas can still be harvested, right?

so is it possible that contaminated rice WILL eventually be sold and distributed and end up on our plates?

does anyone else here think its possible?

hence, should we avoid rice for the next 6 months?

a local farmer in Wieng Heng told me that if a mature rice plant is submerged under water for two weeks it will die

[slapout]

Besides being ignorant of the way rice is handled, the author of this article would seem to have virtually no knowledge of the milling process, weight loss, etc To forecast 1.3 billion of graft out of a 400 billion baht deal, is pure ignorance when you look at 30%+ in weight loss and your paying storage on the 30% gone missing, and then add in the other charges, deductions, fees, fee for payment, etc and you may be approaching 60% of the total never being seen by the farmers and going into the pockets of of the government paid crooks.

The farmers are already complaining that they are only receiving about 65% at the mill (wet weight) vs what government advertises paddy price to be. If not so pathetic this whole press release would be laughable with the dirty laundry hung out for any one to see.

[jimbeam1]

Can I ask a simple question:

As I am aware, Rice grows UNDER WATER...

so,, technically, a LOT of rice in the flooded areas can still be harvested, right?

so is it possible that contaminated rice WILL eventually be sold and distributed and end up on our plates?

does anyone else here think its possible?

hence, should we avoid rice for the next 6 months?

Rice is fine in up to 6" of water prior to harvesting. Much more then it will rot, turn black and die. When I lived in the N/E, the Thais cut the rice that was still in water, that had not totally run off. My little bit was done on dry ground, as I didn't want my toenails to rot and drop off. One way of telling a rice farmer, if there toenails are black or they don't have any. apart from the ones who wear wellies?

jb1

Edited November 16, 2011 by jimbeam1

[bumpkin]

Wasn't the rice pledging scheme was a giant bribe to win rural votes anyway?

Of course, but aimed at the rice mafia and their canvaser teams, as the payback for Puyais that delivered the voters to the right side. It was the rushed into practice 'Rice Pledging Scheme' almost implement faster than pro Thaksin initiatives.

Of course protecting the rice harvest of the most influential vote deliverers and party partners from "god's holy retribution rain' and incompetence driven floods, has backfired beyond possible worse case nightmares... and yet the rice pledging guys are still going for the gold one way or another.

Everybody gets a piece of the rotting pie.

But I'd surmise that 'some pigs are more equal than other pigs', because they delivered higher numbers of voters, so their 'fee structure' for the pledging is considerably friendlier than those who barely delivered a district, or not at all.

Wanna bet whether those complaining in the OP are in the later group?

Bejing has a strong idea to stomp out this gross corruption;

Convict them quickly, but legally and impartially,

and then shoot them in the head in public before football matches.

Seems this is the only way that the point has been driven home in China.

Not pretty, hardly nice, but it has slowed the idiocies there.

Sadly it seems Thailand would have little alternative choices to really

wipe out the vile abuse of public finances that is chronic and endemic here.

Let the flames begin!

The public displays of violence by the Chinese authorities have had little affect on corruption. That is not their purpose. The whole Government structure in that beautiful country is riddled with corruption or 'patronage'.

The reasons behind these public displays are firstly, to punish those who are not able to pay the requisite bribes for lighter sentencing,,, and secondly, designed to silence any impoverished 'whistle blowers' .

Corruption in China is alive and strong. As an institutionalised procedure, it is unlikely to diminish.

Alternatively, you can continue to believe the unbiased, State controlled, Chinese news media ! ! ! really ?

[SICHONSTEVE]

So not only will the government be paying 5-8,000 baht over normal price to buy the rice, they will also have to pay to store it.

The millers get their cut, since they're the ones selling it to the government.

The warehouses get their cut to store it.

The officials get their cut when they select who is allowed to store it.

The poor get screwed again.

When I saw that it reminded me of that famous "who number" - You won't get fooled again. Having said that, the same people you refer to "will get fooled again" come the next election, just you watch!!!:jap:.

[finnomick1]

Hmmm, Bt 15000 per tonne for white rice. So today's price of Bt 13 per kg leaves a shortfall. Where do the farmers apply for their subsidy please ?

[animatic]

Wasn't the rice pledging scheme was a giant bribe to win rural votes anyway?

Of course, but aimed at the rice mafia and their canvaser teams, as the payback for Puyais that delivered the voters to the right side. It was the rushed into practice 'Rice Pledging Scheme' almost implement faster than pro Thaksin initiatives.

Of course protecting the rice harvest of the most influential vote deliverers and party partners from "god's holy retribution rain' and incompetence driven floods, has backfired beyond possible worse case nightmares... and yet the rice pledging guys are still going for the gold one way or another.

Everybody gets a piece of the rotting pie.

But I'd surmise that 'some pigs are more equal than other pigs', because they delivered higher numbers of voters, so their 'fee structure' for the pledging is considerably friendlier than those who barely delivered a district, or not at all.

Wanna bet whether those complaining in the OP are in the later group?

Bejing has a strong idea to stomp out this gross corruption;

Convict them quickly, but legally and impartially,

and then shoot them in the head in public before football matches.

Seems this is the only way that the point has been driven home in China.

Not pretty, hardly nice, but it has slowed the idiocies there.

Sadly it seems Thailand would have little alternative choices to really

wipe out the vile abuse of public finances that is chronic and endemic here.

Let the flames begin!

The public displays of violence by the Chinese authorities have had little affect on corruption. That is not their purpose. The whole Government structure in that beautiful country is riddled with corruption or 'patronage'.

The reasons behind these public displays are firstly, to punish those who are not able to pay the requisite bribes for lighter sentencing,,, and secondly, designed to silence any impoverished 'whistle blowers' .

Corruption in China is alive and strong. As an institutionalised procedure, it is unlikely to diminish.

Alternatively, you can continue to believe the unbiased, State controlled, Chinese news media ! ! ! really ?

There a billion people, of course there are those who in their arrogance believe 'they won't get caught'.

But no doubt there are those who now do think twice before authoring a major corruption scheme.

[JohnAllan]

Crap!!

If the warehouses really want to get out of paying 'tea-money', come together and tell the government 'no chance'.

Where do they suppose the farmers are going to park the rice, if not in their warehouses?

[Thaddeus]

So not only will the government be paying 5-8,000 baht over normal price to buy the rice, they will also have to pay to store it.

The millers get their cut, since they're the ones selling it to the government.

The warehouses get their cut to store it.

The officials get their cut when they select who is allowed to store it.

The poor get screwed again.

When I saw that it reminded me of that famous "who number" - You won't get fooled again. Having said that, the same people you refer to "will get fooled again" come the next election, just you watch!!!:jap:.

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

[Thaddeus]

"To ensure transparency in the pledging project, Poom has however set up three inspection subcommittees to investigate the matter. Poom said that if any officials were found guilty of corruption, they would be subject to punishment under the law as well as disciplinary action."

The Official Report will state: "After 6 months of exhaustive investigation all over the country by our officials we have not found enough evidence to say that there is any corruption in the scheme. If any warehouse operators have any evidence, they should come forward and provide it. There will be no retribution on the warehouse operators. You have my word as an official from the Public Warehouses Organisation."

There will be an easy to remember 4 digit number to lodge a complaint.... and within 30 minutes you will get a pizza....... with "shut up" written on it.

[Buchholz]

Farmers Distressed as Millers Delay Rice Pledging

Farmers in Buriram province are suffering after rice millers under the government's pledging scheme delayed buying paddy rice

Farmers in Buriram's Prakhonchai, Muang, and Chalerm Phrakiat districts are facing difficulties after many rice millers under the government's rice pledging program put up an announcement that they will temporarily stop buying paddy rice.

Some millers are still offering to buy rice, but only at a limited amount from 30 farmers a day, as they reported that their storage facilities are full.

Hundreds of farmers queued up to sell their rice at mills where pledging is still open.

Some have decided to sell their paddy rice at markets or to millers that are not participating in the pledging scheme sometimes for as low as 12,000 baht per ton, compared with the government's price of 20,000 baht.

However, most of the farmers were forced to sell their paddy rice for less than 10,000 baht due to moisture and impurities.

Distressed farmers are calling on the government to quickly solve the problem as it is a waste of time and money to hire trucks just to carry paddies just to queue up to sell their rice.

-- Tan Network 2011-11-28

[billd766]

Well, well isn't that a surprise.

The rich get richer and the poor get shafted,

again.

[lannarebirth]

Well, well isn't that a surprise.

The rich get richer and the poor get shafted,

again.

And it's just starting. Still to come:

1) Inflated storage fees

2) Rice stolen from warehouses

3) Rice invoiced as high grade rice found to be of inferior grade

4) Finally sell the rice at a huge loss

[Thaddeus]

One of my neighbours was complaining this morning that they were not getting what they were promised.

I asked her who she voted for............. silence.

[Ricardo]

And another pre-election promise bites the dust ... THUD !

[Buchholz]

And another pre-election promise bites the dust ... THUD !

And the farmer who was anticipating 20,000 baht... instead, gets less than 10,000 baht.

.

[Ricardo]

And another pre-election promise bites the dust ... THUD !

And the farmer who was anticipating 20,000 baht... instead, gets less than 10,000 baht.

.

There don't seem to be many complaints, coming from the rich PTP-supporting middle-men, about the scheme ?

Meanwhile my local Tesco had rice on-special, @ 199B for 5 kgs, didn't it used to be cheaper under the previous administration ?

Wonder when the poor will notice that their "immediate universal minimum-wage" of 300B/day didn't arrive as-promised, but the higher-prices already have, never mind Thaksin says "all Thais will be rich" by the end of next month, so they can afford it, right ?

[Buchholz]

Thai rice subsidies affect markets worldwide

BANGKOK, Thailand — While campaigning for office in June, Thailand’s Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra slipped into rubber boots, waded into a rice field and hopped aboard a rickety plow. She was flanked by two buffaloes and, of course, a photographer.

Though not much of a field hand herself — before taking power, Yingluck was CEO of a family-owned telecom firm — her photo-op sent a message to the 8 million Thai farmers who supply 30 percent of the world’s rice exports.The message: Vote for me and I’ll take care for you. More specifically, vote for me and my government will buy every grain of rice you can harvest for nearly 50 percent above the market rate.

Her campaign pledge, which kicked in last month, has consequences far beyond Thailand’s jade-green paddies. It has already jacked up the cost of rice worldwide and price of dinner for many who eat the grain.

Continues:

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/thailand/111122/rice-2.0-subsidies-global-economy-farmers-agriculture

Global Post - Nov. 28, 2011

.

[Jimi007]

Thai rice subsidies affect markets worldwide

BANGKOK, Thailand — While campaigning for office in June, Thailand's Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra slipped into rubber boots, waded into a rice field and hopped aboard a rickety plow. She was flanked by two buffaloes and, of course, a photographer.

Though not much of a field hand herself — before taking power, Yingluck was CEO of a family-owned telecom firm — her photo-op sent a message to the 8 million Thai farmers who supply 30 percent of the world's rice exports.The message: Vote for me and I'll take care for you. More specifically, vote for me and my government will buy every grain of rice you can harvest for nearly 50 percent above the market rate.

Her campaign pledge, which kicked in last month, has consequences far beyond Thailand's jade-green paddies. It has already jacked up the cost of rice worldwide and price of dinner for many who eat the grain.

Continues:

http://www.globalpos...ers-agriculture

Global Post - Nov. 28, 2011

.

And yet my father in law was just complaining this week that the price they want to pay him for his rice is way down from last year... He says no one, not even "red shirts" are happy with Yingluck's government.

[teetersb]

Last week, my brother-in-law sold his share of our rice crop for 18+ Baht per kilo (Jasmine) and we thought things would be fine. Yesterday, my neighbor tried to sell some of the same rice and was told 15 Baht (last year's price) is all that could be paid! Bulls##t! So, it looks like we will have to wait until someone says the official price is 18-19 Baht. We have the luxury of doing this, while many can't afford to wait, especially if they have already loaded their rice up and tried to sell it. It would be great if Thai farmers would boycott the Millers that try to cheat them.

[Buchholz]

Last week, my brother-in-law sold his share of our rice crop for 18+ Baht per kilo (Jasmine) and we thought things would be fine. Yesterday, my neighbor tried to sell some of the same rice and was told 15 Baht (last year's price) is all that could be paid! Bulls##t! So, it looks like we will have to wait until someone says the official price is 18-19 Baht. We have the luxury of doing this, while many can't afford to wait, especially if they have already loaded their rice up and tried to sell it. It would be great if Thai farmers would boycott the Millers that try to cheat them.

The farmers shouldn't worry.

Her scheme is corruption free !

Besides, less than 10K baht per ton is almost the same as 20K baht, right?

Yingluck assured that the pledging scheme would be corruption free as a special unit had been assigned to monitor every step of the process.

Any offenders will be prosecuted according to law.

http://thailand-business-news.com/news/top-stories/32202-rice-pledging-scheme-aim-to-boost-income-for-37-millions-thais#.TtQu3Fb_KSo

.

[lannarebirth]

Last week, my brother-in-law sold his share of our rice crop for 18+ Baht per kilo (Jasmine) and we thought things would be fine. Yesterday, my neighbor tried to sell some of the same rice and was told 15 Baht (last year's price) is all that could be paid! Bulls##t! So, it looks like we will have to wait until someone says the official price is 18-19 Baht. We have the luxury of doing this, while many can't afford to wait, especially if they have already loaded their rice up and tried to sell it. It would be great if Thai farmers would boycott the Millers that try to cheat them.

The farmers shouldn't worry.

Her scheme is corruption free !

Besides, less than 10K baht per ton is almost the same as 20K baht, right?

Yingluck assured that the pledging scheme would be corruption free as a special unit had been assigned to monitor every step of the process.

Any offenders will be prosecuted according to law.

http://thailand-busi...is#.TtQu3Fb_KSo

.

Will Police General, Justice Minister, FROC Leader Pracha be leading this government effort as well?

[Buchholz]

Government Urged to Solve Problems of Rice-Pledging Scheme

Representatives of the agricultural office and other related agencies in the northeastern province of Maha Sarakham asked the government to oversee its rice pledging scheme strictly to ensure that farmers receive the maximum benefits from the scheme.

At the Maha Sarakham College of Agriculture and Technology, a local association representing farmers in 20 northeastern provinces, held a seminar on the implementation of the government's rice pledging scheme.

Representatives of the provincial Internal Trade Office and the provincial Agricultural Office, as well as the director of the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives's Maha Sarakham branch, attended the seminar.

The seminar resolved that three major problems have been found after the implementation of the scheme in the northeastern provinces on October 7.

Firstly, farmers were unfairly treated with regards to the measurement of paddy rice's moisture level.

The mis-measurement forces the price down.

The second problem is the delay in the issuance of documents concerning the quality and volume of rice pledged due to the deficiency in the number of officers provided for this service.

The last one is a structural problem that rice mills often ignore the attempts made by the committee in charge of overseeing the scheme in each province to protect farmers' benefits.

Under the scheme, the government vows to purchase white rice at 15,000 baht per ton and jasmine rice at 20,000 baht a ton.

The association called on relevant agencies to address the problem to ensure that farmers receive the maximum benefits from the scheme.

-- Tan Network 2011-12-06

[TAWP]

And to ensure maximum loss to the tax-payers.

Edited December 6, 2011 by TAWP

[Ricardo]

And to ensure maximum loss to the tax-payers.

Not sure that I agree. The cost to-the-government ought to be the same, it's the middle-men who may be trying to divert more of the benefit their own way, and short-changing the farmers.

Hopefully the government will strive to ensure that this doesn't happen ? Or perhaps not, if they're still focused on the rights of one man, overseas ?

Edited December 6, 2011 by Ricardo

[Buchholz]

Government to continue rice-pledging program for off-season harvest

BANGKOK, 28 January 2012 (NNT) – The government is ready to execute its rice-pledging program for this year's off-season rice.

Mr. Boonsong Teriyapirom, Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, said that he has been asking the Thai Rice Mills Association and rice exporters to work with the government in pushing up Thai rice prices.

Mr. Boonsong said that he has stressed with related organizations and individuals that the government will not be focusing on the quantity of rice sold abroad, but more on the added value for local harvest.

The Agriculture Minister also pledged that the sales of rice supply in the state inventory will be carried out with transparency and in a timely manner before the new harvest is out.

He went on to say that the state rice-pledging program for off-season harvest will be open from March 1st in order to keep the momentum going and stabilize rice prices.

In the 2011-2012 harvest, the government has taken in 5.65 million tons of in-season rice through the rice-pledging program.

Furthermore, the government is considering to go on overseas road show to educate foreign buyers about Thai rice.

-- NNT 2012-01-28

[OzMick]

"......... overseas road show to educate foreign buyers about Thai rice."

Thai rice is better because it is MADE IN THAILAND................except for that smuggled in from Cambodia, Laos and anywhere else it can be bought cheap, the thai subsidy claimed, and now sold (or not) at a 50% mark-up.

[animatic]

And to ensure maximum loss to the tax-payers.

Not sure that I agree. The cost to-the-government ought to be the same, it's the middle-men who may be trying to divert more of the benefit their own way, and short-changing the farmers.

Hopefully the government will strive to ensure that this doesn't happen ? Or perhaps not, if they're still focused on the rights of one man, overseas ?

Well the point is the middlemen should be removed from the equation.

The farmers should sell raw stock direct to government agents,

then the government contracts the millers.

[animatic]

Government to continue rice-pledging program for off-season harvest

BANGKOK, 28 January 2012 (NNT) – The government is ready to execute its rice-pledging program for this year's off-season rice.

Mr. Boonsong Teriyapirom, Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, said that he has been asking the Thai Rice Mills Association and rice exporters to work with the government in pushing up Thai rice prices.

Mr. Boonsong said that he has stressed with related organizations and individuals that the government will not be focusing on the quantity of rice sold abroad, but more on the added value for local harvest.

The Agriculture Minister also pledged that the sales of rice supply in the state inventory will be carried out with transparency and in a timely manner before the new harvest is out.

He went on to say that the state rice-pledging program for off-season harvest will be open from March 1st in order to keep the momentum going and stabilize rice prices.

In the 2011-2012 harvest, the government has taken in 5.65 million tons of in-season rice through the rice-pledging program.

Furthermore, the government is considering to go on overseas road show to educate foreign buyers about Thai rice.

-- NNT 2012-01-28

Of course they MUST do this,

since the planned harvesting of profits was erased by the flooding.

[ratcatcher]

So not only will the government be paying 5-8,000 baht over normal price to buy the rice, they will also have to pay to store it.

The millers get their cut, since they're the ones selling it to the government.

The warehouses get their cut to store it.

The officials get their cut when they select who is allowed to store it.

The poor get screwed again.

When I saw that it reminded me of that famous "who number" - You won't get fooled again. Having said that, the same people you refer to "will get fooled again" come the next election, just you watch!!!.

You've a good memory Steve.

"We'll be fighting in the streets

With our children at our feet

And the morals that they worship will be gone

And the men who spurred us on

Sit in judgment of all wrong

They decide and the shotgun sings the song

I'll tip my hat to the new constitution

Take a bow for the new revolution

Smile and grin at the change all around me

Pick up my guitar and play

Just like yesterday

And I'll get on my knees and pray

We don't get fooled again

Don't get fooled again"

Pete Townshend - THE WHO.1971