8,000 tons of rice worth 100 million baht missing from Phichit warehouse

[Thai at Heart]

Farmers lose cool as 4,000 tonnes of paddy 'disappear'

By English News

PHICHIT, June 24 Farmers in this central Thailand rice-producing province today filed complaints with police, charging a rice mill with cheating them in its purchase of 4,000 tonnes of paddy.

Farmers from Pho Thale district said they sold their paddy to the mill under the governments rice pledging scheme but have yet to receive payment.

They were only given papers certifying the total weight of paddy delivered to the rice mill.

The farmers said 4,000 tonnes of paddy which they delivered to the rice mill disappeared from the warehouse, and that each farmer incurred losses of Bt100,000-Bt500,000.

Meanwhile, another group of farmers from Bang Mun Nak and Pho Thale districts did not file complaints with police but chose to rally at the rice mill to demand rice verification papers from the mill owner.

They said any legal action against the rice mill would take too long.

A farmer who sells paddy to the government under the rice pledging scheme via a rice mill must produce a rice verification paper to get payment.

A weight-certifying paper is not a legal document but it only sets forth the total weight of paddy a farmer delivers to the rice mill.

The Bank of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC), which signed an agreement with the Phichit rice mill to join the rice pledging scheme for the 2012/2013 harvest season, has taken off its rice pledging notification sign from the controversial rice mill. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2013-06-24

Next question.

Did the farmers ever actually deliver any rice, but were just given bits of paper and told that that would be sufficient to receive payment?

Is it possible that even the little guys are in on it? Why did it take for the story to break before they started protesting?

[BuddyPinkham]

What a story, all we need now is a definitive comment from Chalerm of The Yard

Just give him time, he will come up with some nonsense reason it is missing.

[kennedy]

Cambodian rice, not Thai rice.

Try connecting the dots.

[Mosha]

Hands up. Who laughed reading the title of the topic, before opening the thread?

[robblok]

Hands up. Who laughed reading the title of the topic, before opening the thread?

Me but I expect a lot more skeletons in the closet on this project.

[joeaverage]

What a story, all we need now is a definitive comment from Chalerm of The Yard

im thinking we would get more relevant information from jenny from the block.

she used to have a little, now shes got alot

[Thai at Heart]

I go with, the rice was never delivered by these farmers.

How much can you put on a 10 wheel truck? 15 tonnes? And they claim that 4000 disappeared? That would be quite a convoy.

They were in on the scam, and now that the loss has been disclosed, are p*****d off that they never got paid a cent.

[retell]

Is there any proof the rice actually exists other than figures in the accounts. ?

that was the first thought for me also , taking rice out would be visible and i guess recorded by security cams so that the rice is bought but was never acualy there would be a explanation

[robblok]

I go with, the rice was never delivered by these farmers.

How much can you put on a 10 wheel truck? 15 tonnes? And they claim that 4000 disappeared? That would be quite a convoy.

They were in on the scam, and now that the loss has been disclosed, are p*****d off that they never got paid a cent.

That might be a good explanation

[Thai at Heart]

I go with, the rice was never delivered by these farmers.

How much can you put on a 10 wheel truck? 15 tonnes? And they claim that 4000 disappeared? That would be quite a convoy.

They were in on the scam, and now that the loss has been disclosed, are p*****d off that they never got paid a cent.

That might be a good explanation

They know the system. Why would they have left the mill without the proper paperwork to get paid? They were promised something, but now the scam is public, know that they aren't going to get anything....

[apetley]

15k a ton? How many rai does it take to usually produce a ton per year?

average yield Per Rai in Thailand is 685 kilograms - so it takes about 1.4 Rai to produce one tonne per harvest - most places do 2 crops per year, some can manage 3 if they have plenty of water.

Some guys in our village are doing four crops a year. Excellent irrigation and loads of chemicals is how it's done. They quite literally cut their crop and next day are prepping for the next.

Sent from my GT-I9003 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[kennedy]

That was Cambodian rice, paid for by gov. Now resold and back in Cambodia with pockets full of Baht and USD.

[worgeordie]

100 million, how many Rolls Royce would that would buy ?

Is that Chalerms price or list price ?

regards Worgeordie

[Katipo]

Even more baffling, 8,000 tons of compost have appeared in the exact sample place the rice was placed 2 years ago at the beginning of the rice pledging scheme.

[Tywais]

Post commenting on moderation removed. Also some need to re-read the forum rules such as below.

2) Not to express disrespect of the King of Thailand or anyone else in the Thai royal family, whether living or deceased, nor to criticize the monarchy as an institution. Speculation, comments and discussion of either a political or personal nature are not allowed when discussing HM The King or the Royal family. Discussion of the lese majeste law or lese majeste cases is permitted on the forum, providing no comment or speculation is made referencing the royal family. To breach this rule will result in immediate ban.

[kimamey]

Farmers lose cool as 4,000 tonnes of paddy 'disappear'

By English News

PHICHIT, June 24 Farmers in this central Thailand rice-producing province today filed complaints with police, charging a rice mill with cheating them in its purchase of 4,000 tonnes of paddy.

Farmers from Pho Thale district said they sold their paddy to the mill under the governments rice pledging scheme but have yet to receive payment.

They were only given papers certifying the total weight of paddy delivered to the rice mill.

The farmers said 4,000 tonnes of paddy which they delivered to the rice mill disappeared from the warehouse, and that each farmer incurred losses of Bt100,000-Bt500,000.

Meanwhile, another group of farmers from Bang Mun Nak and Pho Thale districts did not file complaints with police but chose to rally at the rice mill to demand rice verification papers from the mill owner.

They said any legal action against the rice mill would take too long.

A farmer who sells paddy to the government under the rice pledging scheme via a rice mill must produce a rice verification paper to get payment.

A weight-certifying paper is not a legal document but it only sets forth the total weight of paddy a farmer delivers to the rice mill.

The Bank of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC), which signed an agreement with the Phichit rice mill to join the rice pledging scheme for the 2012/2013 harvest season, has taken off its rice pledging notification sign from the controversial rice mill. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2013-06-24

Next question.

Did the farmers ever actually deliver any rice, but were just given bits of paper and told that that would be sufficient to receive payment?

Is it possible that even the little guys are in on it? Why did it take for the story to break before they started protesting?

I would think that is very possible. I remember reading an article about some farmers who were boasting how they cheated on the rice scheme of the previous government.

[kimamey]

missing ?

What size are the rats ?

I believe they are around 5 to 6 feet tall, speak fluent Thai and drive expensive cars with dubious paperwork.

[pb1936]

One scam after another............ absolutely hilarious !!

[Suffinator]

"The missing rice is estimated to be worth well over 100 million baht. The governor then ordered an investigation into the matter, believing it involved corruption." No files on this guy he's a sharp as a tac. I'm guessing his 'harsh' action will involve making the perpetrators divvy up their ill gotten gains.

[culicine]

Stolen and resold back to the government for another 15K a tonne? lol

[Thai at Heart]

"The missing rice is estimated to be worth well over 100 million baht. The governor then ordered an investigation into the matter, believing it involved corruption." No files on this guy he's a sharp as a tac. I'm guessing his 'harsh' action will involve making the perpetrators divvy up their ill gotten gains.

I want to know why he is the first one to discover this amazing phenomenon that has apparently been going on in plain view of thousands of local farmers?

[slapout]

In just a few days since a planned swoop down to verify rice in storage, these ghovernment slouths have determined 8000 tons are missing at this site, plus rice destined for the Ggovernment sponsored low income outlets, went missing. This latter is sold for 7000 baht/ton for packaging and distribution, but instead was sold back to the rice pledge scam. Throw in a couple of fires at storage facilities which resulted in total loss,and this is just what has been published in English language newspaper.

The big inventory, quality check, public announcement may have a few logistical problems to solve first. Official storage facilitiy count varies from 1500 to 1700, There will be huge manpower numbers required, transport of same, lodging, etc. Then ensuring those people with info and authority of storage sites are on hand. I just hope the various news reporters can find their way to some of the points of intrest.

If this does not resemble a greased pig capture, from start to finish, I will be disappointed. When I see a catch team and a caged transport vehicle in the grand plan I will know the PM is 'DOING HER BEST'

[Anon999]

My maths must be bad! Correct me if I'm wrong but 8,000 @ 15,000/tonne is 120,000,000, therefore at that rate a 100,000,000 is a 17% loss on the pledging cost. Using that as a guide the pledging 'scheme' has lost 17% of its cost without taking into consideration, overheads, unsaleable product, and 'shrinkage'! Anyone like to work out the loss?

[LaurentPerche]

Is there any proof the rice actually exists other than figures in the accounts. ?

Seems like what this Governor is trying to say when he mention corruption instead of thief. I have heard about this scheme to one of the various one used for becoming a millionaire over night with the rice pledging scheme. An other one being to buy large amount of rice overseas at lower price and gobbling the difference.

The EU had a similar scandal couple of years ago with Carbon Tax and the associated VAT. Much more brilliant than the Rice scheme as there was no actual good exchanged

[OzMick]

One must presume that if nothing else this has just saved the people of Thailand B6,400,000/month in storage fees. Well done Yingluk!

[GentlemanJim]

So that's one storage facility, just about another 1499 to go.

I presume the Governors from each province will be publishing a list of every facility they visited and what the results were..........no!.......oops silly me.

[Thai at Heart]

In just a few days since a planned swoop down to verify rice in storage, these ghovernment slouths have determined 8000 tons are missing at this site, plus rice destined for the Ggovernment sponsored low income outlets, went missing. This latter is sold for 7000 baht/ton for packaging and distribution, but instead was sold back to the rice pledge scam. Throw in a couple of fires at storage facilities which resulted in total loss,and this is just what has been published in English language newspaper.

The big inventory, quality check, public announcement may have a few logistical problems to solve first. Official storage facilitiy count varies from 1500 to 1700, There will be huge manpower numbers required, transport of same, lodging, etc. Then ensuring those people with info and authority of storage sites are on hand. I just hope the various news reporters can find their way to some of the points of intrest.

If this does not resemble a greased pig capture, from start to finish, I will be disappointed. When I see a catch team and a caged transport vehicle in the grand plan I will know the PM is 'DOING HER BEST'

At this rate, it would be enough to get them to fax in how many bags they are meant to have in the warehouse, versus how many they actually have. This 8,000 tons never even existed. If that is one storage area, I can actually see that the stock levels aren't going to be quite as horrendous as thought, and bingo, that will shorten the market, and push the price up.

"Thai Stock levels re-evaluated to 5mn tonnes in the warehouse, instead of 20mn"

Prices for supply of rice FOB Bangkok have sky rocketed on reports that widespread fraud has reduced stock in Thailand. "We knew the price would have to rise eventually, this was all part of a cunning plan" said government spokeman Somchai Baldrickporn. We expect the sales of our meagre stocks at this now sky high price to more than fund the losses on the previously mentioned volumes, which were utterly fictitious....

[jaapfries]

100 million, how many Rolls Rice that would buy ?

^{3 ?}

[julemanden]

100 million, how many Rolls Rice that would buy ?

About 3.

Wrong one, but rice rolls millions!

[Dap]

My maths must be bad! Correct me if I'm wrong but 8,000 @ 15,000/tonne is 120,000,000, therefore at that rate a 100,000,000 is a 17% loss on the pledging cost. Using that as a guide the pledging 'scheme' has lost 17% of its cost without taking into consideration, overheads, unsaleable product, and 'shrinkage'! Anyone like to work out the loss?

Was wondering when someone was going to do the math here. Yours is correct if it was just normal rice @ 15,000 bht/ton = 120,000,000 Bht.

So i'm guessing this has got to be another one o' them "little white lies."

Edited June 24, 2013 by Dap