I don't want to get into a red/yellow slanging match as I find both colours equally contemptible, but I think a country like Thailand importing rice when there are warehouses full of the stuff moulding away to be quite extraordinary.

What could be a fair reason apart from:

1. Massive corruption, or 2. Thais either don't care or can't taste the difference in this imported stuff? If so, what about the claim Thai rice is invaluable? Either way, it would seem Thailand has a bit of a problem on it's hands...

Import rice to Thailand which is knee deep in unsold rice. Hmmm. Move along folks. Nothing to see here.

Let someone close to Thaksin Shinawatra buy rice for bt5,700 a ton and sell it to a rice miller for bt12,000 a ton. I'm shocked, I tell ya, shocked.

Considering that the government paid* a minimum of bt15,000 and as much as bt20,000 for that rice, I want in on this deal.

*The money is borrowed, not paid for, jeopardizing the Agricultural Bank.

Shocking, truly shocking...

I don't want to get into a red/yellow slanging match as I find both colours equally contemptible, but I think a country like Thailand importing rice when there are warehouses full of the stuff moulding away to be quite extraordinary.

What could be a fair reason apart from:

1. Massive corruption, or 2. Thais either don't care or can't taste the difference in this imported stuff? If so, what about the claim Thai rice is invaluable? Either way, it would seem Thailand has a bit of a problem on it's hands...

The problem is that Thailand has priced itself out of the market and its cheaper to by foreign rice to supply the local market than to buy the mouldy stuff from the government. Thats on top of the scam of buying foreign rice and selling it into the Governments corrupt rice scheme.

Don't forget guys. This month the government will announce the price setting for the 40,000++ tonnes of rice from 2005 - 2008 they will release to the market for further processing as animal fodder.

I'm sure that we'll get the full certified account presentation with profit/loss soon after, or as they say in due time, when appropriate, as one shouldn't rush things.

Hence a massive increae in luxury car sale!!!!!!

But at least Cambodia will continue to have good relations with Thailand, and won't feel the need to fire shells across the border, so long as PM-Yingluck's government continues to allow the Cambodian rice across the border to take advantage of the high-prices offered, Hun Sen must have a clever economic-adviser to have thought this scam scheme up !

But at least Cambodia will continue to have good relations with Thailand, and won't feel the need to fire shells across the border, so long as PM-Yingluck's government continues to allow the Cambodian rice across the border to take advantage of the high-prices offered, Hun Sen must have a clever economic-adviser to have thought this scam scheme up !

As I wrote elsewhere, 15,000 MT is nothing in terms of the cost of this scheme. Of course, it just highlights how ridiculously corrupt the customs and excise and border control are. There are many packaged fruit products exported from Thailand, marked as Thailand, which have been brought in from neighbouring countries or China.

I remember working in Europe in agriculture, and produce would fly in and out of countries to avail themselves of differing subsidy rates. Does anyone really reckon that Italy grows so many olives as to be able to sustain these enormous volumes. 35% of it, is from Turkey.

Don't forget guys. This month the government will announce the price setting for the 40,000++ tonnes of rice from 2005 - 2008 they will release to the market for further processing as animal fodder.

I'm sure that we'll get the full certified account presentation with profit/loss soon after, or as they say in due time, when appropriate, as one shouldn't rush things.

Most children have make believe friends or in some cases, gooblins hiding under the bed. If history repeats itself (most likely) with the ag programs (brainchild of the PM and close family), storage, and subsquent disappearance of the comodity in question, will be acknowledged, accepted as TIT, so move on to the next 'make us rich" scam.

smart economics in the 21st century, give 15.000 baht per tonne, let it rott in the stockpiles and then sell it with a big loss to some private company that will export it and re-import it again for next season and... get the 15.000 baht per ton, again and again

Truly a manufactured scam of immense proportion - and the average Thai is blind to it. Maybe Thai language newspapers do not report it or maybe their readers are too busy looking at the latest gory pictures that smother the front pages. My goodness how awful for the Thai people who will end up paying for all this.

Truly a manufactured scam of immense proportion - and the average Thai is blind to it.  Maybe Thai language newspapers do not report it or maybe their readers are too busy looking at the latest gory pictures that smother the front pages.  My goodness how awful for the Thai people who will end up paying for all this.

I am not so sure the average Thai is unaware. I believe that the general feeling is one of casual acceptance because there is little they can do about it.

Rice farmers are getting slightly more than they would without the scam so they aren't complaining.

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