Thai Rice Mountain Casts Shadow Over World Market

[TomTao]

The stupidity of the scam scheme falls squarely on the shoulders of a manipulated puppet calling herself a 'Prime' minister. If she had any decency she would distance herself from her criminal counter part, take the heat for this ridiculous scam, apologise to the tax payers and start letting the rice flow to market and resign as PM. The rice won't last in storage so better to get some pay day than writing off not only the money but the stock as well.

As stated yesterday, she has already flamed out and this gone down in history as the worst Govt policy of any of the past 26. Doing the bidding of an exiled criminal, one whose only motivation is vote buying and greed, would in my opinion, require immediate impeachment. Toss her out. A year of Peu Thai has doubled the cost of living, lost thousands of jobs and crashed many businesses. This insanity has to stop as the debts keep rising and the use of taxpayers funds being squandered mercilessly on scams to feed the pigs at the money trough.

Miss Yingluck, have the guts to resign. You and your corrupt party are an abject failure to your people.

I agree with most of what you say, but the problem with releasing the rice into the world market could cause a glut which would cause the world price of rice to fall dramatically, which could see all parties, especially the farmers lose alot of money, and that could be disasterous for the government, could you see the PM suddenly doing an about face and scrapping the scheme with massive loss of face, I think saving face is more important than the national good for not only the PM but for the government as a whole, and big brother is probably counting on that.

[Ricardo]

A fall in world-market prices would cost the government a lot more money, but shouldn't affect Thai farmers, unless the government backed-away from their rice-purchase scheme, which the Big Boss says "should be extended for several more years".

But hey, it's only public money, which is being thrown away on their attempts "to manipulate the mechanism for two, three years".

Who needs nurses in hospitals, or better education in Thai schools, as long as the sacred-cow rice-policy remains untouched ?

[OzMick]

If this had been tried during a world rice shortage, it had some hope for success. But the timing was determined by when the votes needed to be bought, not movements in the market, so that its failure will be catastrophic.

BTW don't the Shinawatra's own substantial holdings of rice farms? I'm sure if that is the case that they have removed themselves from the beneficiary lists so as to refute claims of self-interest.

[AleG]

If this had been tried during a world rice shortage, it had some hope for success. But the timing was determined by when the votes needed to be bought, not movements in the market, so that its failure will be catastrophic.

BTW don't the Shinawatra's own substantial holdings of rice farms? I'm sure if that is the case that they have removed themselves from the beneficiary lists so as to refute claims of self-interest.

Perhaps, but it would be appalling to profiteer from a famine though. Not that it would bother these "champions of the poor" though

[Nickymaster]

The stupidity of the scam scheme falls squarely on the shoulders of a manipulated puppet calling herself a 'Prime' minister. If she had any decency she would distance herself from her criminal counter part, take the heat for this ridiculous scam, apologise to the tax payers and start letting the rice flow to market and resign as PM. The rice won't last in storage so better to get some pay day than writing off not only the money but the stock as well.

As stated yesterday, she has already flamed out and this gone down in history as the worst Govt policy of any of the past 26. Doing the bidding of an exiled criminal, one whose only motivation is vote buying and greed, would in my opinion, require immediate impeachment. Toss her out. A year of Peu Thai has doubled the cost of living, lost thousands of jobs and crashed many businesses. This insanity has to stop as the debts keep rising and the use of taxpayers funds being squandered mercilessly on scams to feed the pigs at the money trough.

Miss Yingluck, have the guts to resign. You and your corrupt party are an abject failure to your people.

http://oryza.com/Rice-News/15361.html

Yingluck will not resign. Her family is making BILLIONS and BILLIONS from this rice scam. For sure the largest corruption case in Thai history.

[Sateev]

What's the Thai word for, "Duh!"?

[bangkokheat]

cant they make rice bubbles or pay staff with rice, better still all the wise ones who had anything to do with the policy should be paid in rice.

[snowgard]

The onlyst problem is that the Thai Rice are to expensive. Other countries are much cheaper. It cannot work if the rice do the following way:

FARMER --> Mill/Dealer (Countryside) --> Transportcompany (Dealer) --> Bangkok Dealer --> Exporter

To much people want earn from it and the farmers got the smallest peace!!! How much a Farmer earn for a ton of rice?

6.000-8.000 Baht/Ton --> and the Exporters charge 27.000-36.000 Baht (US $900-1200) / Ton of Jasmine Rice.

The Farmers do the work and earn nothing and the Dealers make the big money.

Check the Rice price on alibaba.com

And if I am a farmer, I know what I must do!!! Produce and Export self!!!

Edited October 25, 2012 by snowgard

[khunken]

The stupidity of the scam scheme falls squarely on the shoulders of a manipulated puppet calling herself a 'Prime' minister. If she had any decency she would distance herself from her criminal counter part, take the heat for this ridiculous scam, apologise to the tax payers and start letting the rice flow to market and resign as PM. The rice won't last in storage so better to get some pay day than writing off not only the money but the stock as well.

As stated yesterday, she has already flamed out and this gone down in history as the worst Govt policy of any of the past 26. Doing the bidding of an exiled criminal, one whose only motivation is vote buying and greed, would in my opinion, require immediate impeachment. Toss her out. A year of Peu Thai has doubled the cost of living, lost thousands of jobs and crashed many businesses. This insanity has to stop as the debts keep rising and the use of taxpayers funds being squandered mercilessly on scams to feed the pigs at the money trough.

Miss Yingluck, have the guts to resign. You and your corrupt party are an abject failure to your people.

I agree with most of what you say but don't lay all the blame on Yingluck. She is don't what 'the doctor ordered' as it is the DL who masterminds every corrupt scheme that the government implements.

Secondly, if Yingluck goes, who will replace her? Chalerm? - perish the thought & he's not family anyway. Another family member? - a case of tweedledee & tweedledum. There is no one in the PTP any better than Yingluck & the vast majority are only worse.

I'm not defending her because she's doing a good job - she isn't. But as a 'face' for the corrupt mob now in charge, she's the best available.

[imthemanhere]

the rice mortgage scheme is really a stroke of genius and achieved already and will achieve multiple targets:

- thai exports have fallen considerably, benefiting the competition. well, let's give our rivals a chance!

- the rice needs more and more storage space. generating additional income for such who have space to rent out!

- and as soon as all storage space is full; and the rice stocks will have to be sold off cheaply, world market prices will plummet and everybody can enjoy cheap (although somewhat old) rice!

the loss of thailand's no. 1 position, lost money, resulting budget deficits for the country, etc. are really only a small price to pay for the above benefits...

[asiawatcher]

The stupidity of the scam scheme falls squarely on the shoulders of a manipulated puppet calling herself a 'Prime' minister. If she had any decency she would distance herself from her criminal counter part, take the heat for this ridiculous scam, apologise to the tax payers and start letting the rice flow to market and resign as PM. The rice won't last in storage so better to get some pay day than writing off not only the money but the stock as well.

As stated yesterday, she has already flamed out and this gone down in history as the worst Govt policy of any of the past 26. Doing the bidding of an exiled criminal, one whose only motivation is vote buying and greed, would in my opinion, require immediate impeachment. Toss her out. A year of Peu Thai has doubled the cost of living, lost thousands of jobs and crashed many businesses. This insanity has to stop as the debts keep rising and the use of taxpayers funds being squandered mercilessly on scams to feed the pigs at the money trough.

Miss Yingluck, have the guts to resign. You and your corrupt party are an abject failure to your people.

I agree with most of what you say, but the problem with releasing the rice into the world market could cause a glut which would cause the world price of rice to fall dramatically, which could see all parties, especially the farmers lose alot of money, and that could be disasterous for the government, could you see the PM suddenly doing an about face and scrapping the scheme with massive loss of face, I think saving face is more important than the national good for not only the PM but for the government as a whole, and big brother is probably counting on that.

Agree with your sentiments - releasing this to the market would tank the price, unless you were the first to get it out. But ROI even at a loss is better than writing off both the stock and the money they have paid for it. Your first loss is always your best. In simplistic terms - she f**ked up by being told what to do.

[whybother]

Agree with your sentiments - releasing this to the market would tank the price, unless you were the first to get it out. But ROI even at a loss is better than writing off both the stock and the money they have paid for it. Your first loss is always your best. In simplistic terms - she f**ked up by being told what to do.

I guarantee that the government will be the first to get it out ... seeing as they are the ones with all the rice.

As far as putting it out there at a loss, I'm sure the WTO might have something to say about that.

[finnomick1]

So, if there is such a huge mountain of rice, why has the price on the domestic market soared by 30% from a year ago ? And around us, they have just started cutting the rice -- I wonder what the price is at the ( rice baron's ) mills ? Looks like the mountain is about to get a whole lot bigger.....

[babydriver]

This could be a cloud with a silver lining

Europe have had there worst growing season in 400 years and have had severe crop failures.

The US corn crop has failed due to drought

The Australian wheat crop has been dismal.

That rice mountain could be worth a bucket load of Bhat in a few months time

[dickyknee]

The Australian wheat crop has been dismal.

down 11% on last year, the largest on record. 2012 comes in at the 4th largest year on record, the last 3 being the last 3 years.

Get ya hand off it.

http://www.indexmundi.com/agriculture/?country=au&commodity=wheat&graph=production

[OzMick]

The Australian wheat crop has been dismal.

down 11% on last year, the largest on record. 2012 comes in at the 4th largest year on record, the last 3 being the last 3 years.

Get ya hand off it.

http://www.indexmund...raph=production

Lies, damned lies and statistics. Or maybe, a little knowledge is dangerous thing.

[Ricardo]

The stupidity of the scam scheme falls squarely on the shoulders of a manipulated puppet calling herself a 'Prime' minister. If she had any decency she would distance herself from her criminal counter part, take the heat for this ridiculous scam, apologise to the tax payers and start letting the rice flow to market and resign as PM. The rice won't last in storage so better to get some pay day than writing off not only the money but the stock as well.

As stated yesterday, she has already flamed out and this gone down in history as the worst Govt policy of any of the past 26. Doing the bidding of an exiled criminal, one whose only motivation is vote buying and greed, would in my opinion, require immediate impeachment. Toss her out. A year of Peu Thai has doubled the cost of living, lost thousands of jobs and crashed many businesses. This insanity has to stop as the debts keep rising and the use of taxpayers funds being squandered mercilessly on scams to feed the pigs at the money trough.

Miss Yingluck, have the guts to resign. You and your corrupt party are an abject failure to your people.

I agree with most of what you say, but the problem with releasing the rice into the world market could cause a glut which would cause the world price of rice to fall dramatically, which could see all parties, especially the farmers lose alot of money, and that could be disasterous for the government, could you see the PM suddenly doing an about face and scrapping the scheme with massive loss of face, I think saving face is more important than the national good for not only the PM but for the government as a whole, and big brother is probably counting on that.

Agree with your sentiments - releasing this to the market would tank the price, unless you were the first to get it out. But ROI even at a loss is better than writing off both the stock and the money they have paid for it. Your first loss is always your best. In simplistic terms - she f**ked up by being told what to do.

At the risk of stating the obvious, imagine what a well-informed offshore commodities-speculator might be able to do, if he had pre-knowledge that the Thai government were about to release a significant part of their stocks, just a few days later ?

Or even better, if they were in a position to influence the timing & volume & pricing, of such a decision ?

Thanks heavens this could never happen !

[OzMick]

At the risk of stating the obvious, imagine what a well-informed offshore commodities-speculator might be able to do, if he had pre-knowledge that the Thai government were about to release a significant part of their stocks, just a few days later ?

Or even better, if they were in a position to influence the timing & volume & pricing, of such a decision ?

Thanks heavens this could never happen !

Forecasters are predicting an avalanche on the Thai rice mountain. I wonder who will get buried.

[rogerdee123]

How perishable is stored rice? It's 'value' must be diminishing as the days, weeks and months drag on.

A couple of months ago there was talk of bartering it with Iran (and another African country) for oil. However Iran is embargoed but that probably doesn't bother Mr. T. Any recent talk about this?

The could also probably barter it with N. Korea for .... ? .... counterfeit currency? ...... missiles ? ..... nuclear bombs ?

I think they will unload it eventually and even though a fiasco, they will spin it like a great success story. Any negatives they can't deny will be blamed on the Democrats, the Army, or the "Men in BLack".

[riceyummm]

Are Thai beers made with rice? I have an idea. It might not suit the scale of the Thai rice mountain problem but it's a step in the right direction. Maybe a lao khao that's drinkable too.

[DanielS]

Now 2012 the rice farmers in Thailand gets 20 baht per kilogram for the worlds best quality rice, Jasmine Rice, Home malee.

How much earns the ricefarmers in the USA for one kilogram of the best rice?

[otherstuff1957]

So, if there is such a huge mountain of rice, why has the price on the domestic market soared by 30% from a year ago ? And around us, they have just started cutting the rice -- I wonder what the price is at the ( rice baron's ) mills ? Looks like the mountain is about to get a whole lot bigger.....

This scheme HAS succeeded in raising the domestic price, but they can't control the international price.

I've noticed bags of Indian rice in some supermarkets recently! Has anyone else seen these?

[HiSoLowSoNoSo]

Are Thai beers made with rice? I have an idea. It might not suit the scale of the Thai rice mountain problem but it's a step in the right direction. Maybe a lao khao that's drinkable too.

Or maybe they can do a nice Sake, rice wine of it, They can call it Château Shinawatra.

[Crushdepth]

They can always burn it. The farmers will grow more, since the price is good.

[OzMick]

Now 2012 the rice farmers in Thailand gets 20 baht per kilogram for the worlds best quality rice, Jasmine Rice, Home malee.

How much earns the ricefarmers in the USA for one kilogram of the best rice?

You miss the point. The US or Oz rice farmer produces many many multiples of a Thai rice farmer, and thus manages a reasonable income.

What is the point of subsidising an inefficient and uneconomic producer who can't grow enough rice to satisfy his own income requirements - so that he will continue to do it, remaining poor while using taxpayer's money better spent elsewhere?

[asiawatcher]

The stupidity of the scam scheme falls squarely on the shoulders of a manipulated puppet calling herself a 'Prime' minister. If she had any decency she would distance herself from her criminal counter part, take the heat for this ridiculous scam, apologise to the tax payers and start letting the rice flow to market and resign as PM. The rice won't last in storage so better to get some pay day than writing off not only the money but the stock as well.

As stated yesterday, she has already flamed out and this gone down in history as the worst Govt policy of any of the past 26. Doing the bidding of an exiled criminal, one whose only motivation is vote buying and greed, would in my opinion, require immediate impeachment. Toss her out. A year of Peu Thai has doubled the cost of living, lost thousands of jobs and crashed many businesses. This insanity has to stop as the debts keep rising and the use of taxpayers funds being squandered mercilessly on scams to feed the pigs at the money trough.

Miss Yingluck, have the guts to resign. You and your corrupt party are an abject failure to your people.

http://oryza.com/Rice-News/15361.html

Yingluck will not resign. Her family is making BILLIONS and BILLIONS from this rice scam. For sure the largest corruption case in Thai history.

All I am doing buddy is making sure the Thai Police read it - which they do religiously... Thai Visa is always under the scope.

[chooka]

They say they will organise government to government deals to sell the rice. Are the other governments of the world really going to buy all this overpriced rice using thier own taxpayers money to bail Thailand out?

[Ricardo]

Not at all ! They may buy it, but at a realistic price, so it's the Thai government which takes the loss both ways (buying & selling). Which is why the government is so desperate to keep the details of these deals secret (or 'commercially confidential', as they understandably prefer to put it).

Also note that the claims of several million tons having been sold, are for delivery by the end of next year (2013), not this. So it will still mostly be in the warehouses, when the new crop starts to arrive at the mills, cue millers' excuses about 'we'd love to buy it, but can't store it, unless you accept a lower-than-government-guaranteed price', to the poor farmers with their loaded pick-ups.

Interestingly former-PM Thaksin said, in his Singapore interview a month ago, that the Thai government "has about 17 million tons of paddy on hand, and stockpiles of milled rice are estimated at about 4 million tons." So a lot of the rice-mountain isn't/wasn't actually milled & bagged-up & ready-to-go.

Edited October 26, 2012 by Ricardo

[jayjayjayjay]

Frankly, having grown up on a farm and knowing that a bit of government help and good cooperatives system are needed to fight against international subsidies (which all large agricultural countries play, the USA being NO exception). 99.9% of people commenting now both reporters, TV ppl, and political advantage crowd have no idea what they are talking about. All it will take is a drought in India or a freeze over in China and the government will make do very well with 12 million tons feed onto the market. This amount is nothing unusual. My father was for 15 years a director of the Australian Barley Board, so I know how international trade of grains works. Thailand is not in a bad position.

[MikeOboe57]

Frankly, having grown up on a farm and knowing that a bit of government help and good cooperatives system are needed to fight against international subsidies (which all large agricultural countries play, the USA being NO exception). 99.9% of people commenting now both reporters, TV ppl, and political advantage crowd have no idea what they are talking about. All it will take is a drought in India or a freeze over in China and the government will make do very well with 12 million tons feed onto the market. This amount is nothing unusual. My father was for 15 years a director of the Australian Barley Board, so I know how international trade of grains works. Thailand is not in a bad position.

So the Thai Government put all their hopes on "a drought in India or a freeze over in China"? Isn't the betting sum a little high for these odds?