Don Mueang Rice Plan Dropped

[webfact]

COMMERCE MINISTRY

Don Mueang rice plan dropped

PETCHANET PRATRUANGKRAI,

PIYANART SRIVALO

THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- The Commerce Ministry has abandoned its plan to use Don Mueang International Airport to hold pledged rice, as its unused warehouse is not suitable while there are still adequate storage facilities elsewhere.

"The government is seeking other warehouses to stock new crops. So far, warehouses should be adequate for keeping rice, while the government will gradually release [old] rice from its stockpiles," Commerce Minister Boonsong Teriyapirom said yesterday.

Traffic and safety problems as well as steep maintenance costs have ruled out Don Mueang as an option, he said.

Somsak Vongvattanasant, vice president of the Public Warehouse Organisation (PWO), said the agency was campaigning for more silos to join the government's pledging project. More space is available now for up to 300,000 tonnes.

The government should have more free space for up to 3 million or 4 million tonnes of rice by year-end, he said.

The government with cooperation from the private sector will mobilise the capacity to store up to 20 million tonnes. This excludes high-quality rice silos, which should be able to keep at least 2 million tonnes.

However, silos are much more expensive than normal warehouses. The stocking cost for a warehouse is Bt20 per tonne a month, while the cost for a silo is Bt80.

The PWO reported that about 108,000 tonnes of pledged rice from the harvest starting at the beginning of this month was now entering the government's warehouses.

Four cases of government officials committing acts of corruption under the rice-pledging project have been uncovered, but police yesterday reaffirmed that they could handle such fraud cases.

However, Woraphong Shiew-preecha, deputy commissioner of Provincial Police Region 9 and the secretary-general of a committee inspecting the rice pledging project, said the committee did not need to conduct its investigation stringently, as it was quite effective now.

More police have been sent to observe rice pledging at each processing centre. About five officers will be stationed at each pledging point, along with four representatives from the PWO.

From August 9 to October 12, 27 cases of pledging graft were reportedly found, involving 762 farmers and 60 other offenders. Those cases generated a loss of Bt313 million for the rice-pledging project. In four cases, government officials were involved.

The committee will carefully check the number of registered farmers after finding a discrepancy, Wora-phong said. About 4.2 million farmers have registered under the pledging project, while the Agri-culture Department reported only 3.9 million farmers.

-- The Nation 2012-10-17

[dcutman]

So in 60 days there were B313 mil stolen. B5 mil a day. Is it safe to assume that in the previous 300 days this scam has been in operation, at least B1.5 billion stolen?

[hellodolly]

Quote from the article

"The government should have more free space for up to 3 million or 4 million tonnes of rice by year-end, he said."

translation

We now have to find storage for 3 million or 4 million tonnes of rice that we can't sell because we have over priced it and no one will buy it.

Then it went on to say

"However, Woraphong Shiew-preecha, deputy commissioner of Provincial Police Region 9 and the secretary-general of a committee inspecting the rice pledging project, said the committee did not need to conduct its investigation stringently, as it was quite effective now."

In other words we are not going to look to hard to find corruption.

[slapout]

A more boken system would be hard to imagine, much less find. This scam may come in second to the amount of moneiy carried out during the airport project, but it will be a close race.

[fareastguy]

I think the government is playing a very stupid hand in trying to manipulate the market.

It's idea that if it holds back rice now the market will show a shortage & the price will rise, at which point it will sell & recoup it's pledging price.

However if rice from neighbouring countries who can step up production covers this so called shortfall Thailand will be sat on a mountain of ageing rice that it can't sell.

Better to let the farmers produce & sell as market forces dictate. Not play games with a food source.

[siampolee]

Why should the police look hard to find corruption ?

No doubt upon instructions from a convicted on tthe run bail jumping renegade who was apolice officer along with a D.P.M. who was a police officer and whose son is a trainer at the police firearms school they lhave been told to keep their eyes closed and only open them upon receipt of large bulky white envelope.

[allan michaud]

"From August 9 to October 12, 27 cases of pledging graft were reportedly found, involving 762 farmers and 60 other offenders. Those cases generated a loss of Bt313 million for the rice-pledging project. In four cases, government officials were involved."

27 cases?

762 plus 60 = 822

Typically only low level graft is being detected.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Well, it was a "great" idea.... while it lasted... That seems to happen a lot around here...

Maybe they're saving the extra space at DM for King Power!

Edited October 17, 2012 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[MaxLee]

Yipiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeehhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

At least the Don Muang Airport can continue to use its cargo to store the tourists' luggage, or otherwise it would have had a big problem, if their cargo storage was filled with "outaged- blood money-corrupted-contaminated-XXXXpired rice", which the Yingluck government "HOPES TO XXXXPORT-SELL AT A CHEAP PRICE TO THE WORLD"

[asiawatcher]

Still the smoke and mirrors continues when the whole scenario is simply - sell the rice and forget the storage issue.

[Pi Sek]

Four cases of government officials committing acts of corruption under the rice-pledging project have been uncovered, but police yesterday reaffirmed that they could handle such fraud cases.

I bet they can!

$$$

[hellodolly]

Four cases of government officials committing acts of corruption under the rice-pledging project have been uncovered, but police yesterday reaffirmed that they could handle such fraud cases.

I bet they can!

$$$

Yes they can no shortage of money.

[indyuk]

I think the government is playing a very stupid hand in trying to manipulate the market.

It's idea that if it holds back rice now the market will show a shortage & the price will rise, at which point it will sell & recoup it's pledging price.

However if rice from neighbouring countries who can step up production covers this so called shortfall Thailand will be sat on a mountain of ageing rice that it can't sell.

Better to let the farmers produce & sell as market forces dictate. Not play games with a food source.

The Abhisit government also held back rice sales though for a different reason.

[Theoutsider]

Looks like they took the advice of TVF.

If only they did that more often.

[happynthailand]

i posted on The*P ,that it would be a good idea to store the rice at don mueang that way the planes could back up to the hanger at night,

load up with rice,that way don't know were the rice went,the mice must of ate it.

they didn't like my post

wonder why

[Pib]

Someone within the government probably commented aircraft hangars are for parking planes; not for hiding parking rice. Sure hope this person didn't get promoted to an inactive post.

[Narratio]

Hang on a minute.

"...The stocking cost for a warehouse is Bt20 per tonne a month, while the cost for a silo is Bt80..."

Exactly how hard is it and how much does it cost to get a 'warehouse' (or anything else) certified as a 'silo'?

I reckon I can store about 10 ton of rice in the garage... if I can get it certified as a 'silo' I could cover my monthly bar tabs dead easy.