Thailand readies airport warehouse to store record stocks of rice

By Apornrath Phoonphongphiphat

BANGKOK (Reuters) - The Thai government plans to use an old airport warehouse and is desperately hunting for more storage space for a mountain of rice that has resulted from a subsidy scheme that won it votes but which is now sapping the treasury.

Traders estimate the government has a record 12 million tonnes of milled rice in stockpiles, bought in a controversial intervention scheme under which it pays farmers way above the market price for their grain.

"We have prepared a 30,000 square metre warehouse at Don Muang Airport for the government to store rice and we are asking around whether other government organisations have any space left for keeping rice," Transport Minister Jarupong Ruangsuwan said on Friday.

The old Bangkok airport recently reopened after extensive refurbishment made necessary by flooding a year ago.

Full story: http://www.reuters.c...E8LC4GN20121012

-- REUTERS 2012-10-13

First Class airport and Flood HUB

Commerce Minister Boonsong Teriyapirom again insisted that he had sold 7.3 million tonnes of rice to foreign governments, including China, Indonesia and the Philippines.

"Around 1.4 million tonnes of rice has already been shipped to those countries," he told reporters. He has declined to go into detail.

Exporters and industry officials have seen no evidence of such sales at the ports or in statistics. Both Indonesia and the Philippines have denied any such deal and there has been no word from China.

Export data from the Ministry of Commerce shows rice shipments of around 5 million tonnes so far this year, down 44 percent from the same period last year.

If the Govt magically keeps rice disappearing at this rate they will not need any additional storage space.

I would like to see David Copperfield make 2.3 million tonns of rice vanish.

Edited October 13, 201213 yr by dcutman

Minister, please ensure that some sort of stock rotation system is put in place with this pile.

Every single bag we've received for our restaurant in Australia for the past twelve months has had weevils in it.

One airport warehouse going to make a difference?

It's millions of tons.

Rats are gonna have a field day with this one.

Rats are gonna have a field day with this one.

They are too fat to get from Parliament so it will be safe.

here is an idea,

Stop implementing plans and schemes and sell rice at fair market price

Rats are gonna have a field day with this one.

Giant rice-fed rats will be a bigger problem than bird hits.

Edited October 13, 201213 yr by Payboy

I've got a small space at the back of my place if it help's ??

Sensible location, The deal is done the money changes hands and then the middleman and the politicians can nip off a bit sharpish in an airplane with their ill gotten gains.

I seem to recall someone who is in favour of the rice pledging scam scheme shipping numerous suitcases out of Thailand some years back. too. Was or is that the precedent for this latest storage site move?

Who says ,Thais don't plan for the future?'

Edited October 13, 201213 yr by siampolee

I am not sure whether this is good or bad in terms of predicting the likelihood of flooding.

THEY BIT OFF More than they can Chew. They now have rice coming out of their rear ends....

Hello FAA? Yeah Thailand needs their airports inspected, as they seem think its place to store crap.

Edited October 13, 201213 yr by Sayonarax

I see an opportunity for pest control. You can't just take a public building and turn it into quality storage. Every rat north of bangkok will migrate there.

It could be biblical.

what happens when this rices spoils and they get nothing for it, well at least they got all the votes from rice workers - just another vote buying scheme for Thaksin gone wrong, eventually nobody will want this rice as it will be full of insects, I guess the white lies will continue as Thailands debt continues to rise

Hopefully the rice won't be stored in the same warehouse there where flood supplies were ruined.

Don Mueang Airport to be flood-free this year

Wasn't that said just a week before it flooded last year?

It was definitely going to stay dry and not flood. That's why the FROC moved their operations there from their previously flooded control center. Shortly thereafter, they were on the move again after Don Mueang flooded and FROC had to get the FROC out.

Shortly after that, we learned that hoarded supplies that FROC had stored at Don Mueang were ruined by the flooding.

Just sell it, as Thailand has already all but removed itself from the market pace by their stupidity over the rice issue, adding storage costs to the rice will only inflate the price at which they must sell. No logic in this town...

Simple solution, just hint to the owners of the warehouses currently being used that the government-auditors are too busy elsewhere, to come to count/inspect the stocks being held on their behalf.

Then tell the border-Customs not to look too closely at trucks heading out from Thailand.

Problem solves itself ! With appropriate commissions in-cash, please.

Well, this worked under the TRT-administrations, didn't it ?

I was not aware of Cambodian rice being bulkier than Thai rice?

Imagine if the Don Mueang area is flooded again.

Minister, please ensure that some sort of stock rotation system is put in place with this pile.

Every single bag we've received for our restaurant in Australia for the past twelve months has had weevils in it.

there is no way that this rice will be ROTATED!!!!

that rice will be completely infested with weevils. (as is MOST rice)!!

ah yes... but expect it to be treated with a chemical agent to reduce the Weevil colonies.

anyone remember the VAST mountains of rice 25 years ago? (Ethiopia and Band Aid)

i think that stuff just stays there until the government can 'sell it off' cheap to some country.

Rats are gonna have a field day with this one.

Are you referring to the rodents or the politicians?

I see an opportunity for pest control. You can't just take a public building and turn it into quality storage. Every rat north of bangkok will migrate there.

It could be biblical.

Many Thais enjoy eating barbecued rat. Maybe this could be a secondary spin off opportunity for someone.

It's not hard to catch them. They may be worth more than the rice.

I see an opportunity for pest control. You can't just take a public building and turn it into quality storage. Every rat north of bangkok will migrate there.

It could be biblical.

Many Thais enjoy eating barbecued rat. Maybe this could be a secondary spin off opportunity for someone.

It's not hard to catch them. They may be worth more than the rice.

Can't be too healthy if it died from poisoning.

Price manipulation.

The other paper claims it can store 130,000 tons.

A drop in the ocean of 10,000,000.

The other paper claims it can store 130,000 tons.

A drop in the ocean of 10,000,000.

"...drop in the ocean"

I've got a cunning plan!

here is an idea,

Stop implementing plans and schemes and sell rice at fair market price

I agree with your statement about fair market price but other things may be in play here. Going back at least 6-9 months ago on a Thai-English news program it was stated that two businesses (famiies) were responsible for over 60% of Thailands rice exports'. if someone could find a figure for total exports we would be able to calculate roughly how many billion dollars these two familys are making in profit. It helps if you keep in Ámart Mode''' and Thaksins desire to crush it and create his own Amart.

Who says they will auction the rice stockpile to one of the 35 families who have been controlling Thailand rice prices for decades and effectively keeping 20,000,000 in the poor house.. To do away with poverty we either have to allow more people into the game, increasing the 35 to effectively 100s or keep buying the rice until the 35 go out of business and then allow others to join the game with effective regulation about payments to farmers.

Edited October 13, 201213 yr by backtonormal

Perhaps one side-effect of storing unwanted-rice in aircraft-hangars might be, to generate a new revenue-stream for Thai Airways, and get them back into profit ? Solving two problems at a single stroke !

I wonder if there will be a reserve price for the bidding, or will it just be the highest bid takes it? Either way, I can't see the bidding going over the government's cost for purchasing the rice.

I also suspect that the real reason the govt. is being so cagey about the g to g rice deals is that they don't want to reveal how big a loss they are taking on those deals!