Thai govt issues warning to 'rubber hoarders' believed to be behind rallies

[webfact]

PROTEST
Govt issues warning to 'rubber hoarders' believed to be behind rallies
The Nation



BANGKOK: -- Aiming at organisers and supporters of rubber farmers' protests in Nakhon Si Thammarat, Interior Minister Charupong Ruangsuwan yesterday vowed to launch a crackdown on hidden stores of rubber products.

He did not identify any group, but hinted that "hoarders of rubber supply", who he said would benefit handsomely from government permission to intervene in raw rubber sheet prices, may be behind the protests.

"The government now knows who is supporting the protests, and demands that you stop, or government inspections will be conducted to check out your rubber stockpiles," he said, without elaborating.

Citing an effort by Deputy Interior Minister Visarn Techateerawat to talk with the Democrats about the situation, Charupong said Visarn personally knew many Democrat Party MPs based in the South.

Charupong said certain Democrat MPs in Nakhon Si Thammarat, where the protests and clashes took place, had called him and promised to mediate with the protesters to seek an end to the rallies.

Visarn had earlier said that three senior Democrat MPs had met with protest leaders and helped calm them down, and that some protesters said yesterday they would be willing to negotiate with the government through the chief of Cha-uat district, and began dismantling a number of tents erected at the rally site.

He said owners of rubber plantations, as well as tappers, needed to agree among themselves about sharing of benefits resulting from a government promise of a per-rai subsidy of Bt2,520 to owners of no more than 25 rai.

A leader of rubber farmers in Surat Thani, Kittisak Wiroj, called on the media to report the incident impartially, and complained about television news coverage reporting only on action and statements by authorities and the police.

Meanwhile, the Thai Journalists Association and the Thai Broadcast Journalists Association issued a statement yesterday urging both protesting rubber farmers and police in Nakhon Si Thammarat to refrain from using violence and harassing journalists. The groups vowed journalists would remain impartial in carrying out their duties.

The statement came after a major clash between protesters and police on Monday in the province's Cha-uat district left many people injured.

While stressing the need to ensure the safety of journalists covering such conflicts, the associations also urged the media not to report in a way that could fan hatred and to be well-rounded in their coverage. Both police and protesters, the statement said, must understand the important role of the media in presenting multifaceted accounts of what is happening on the ground, and should refrain from harassing or threatening reporters.

In the event of any unfair reporting, the groups called on the affected parties to take legal action and not to resort to violence.

Thai PBS also issued a statement saying its staff covered the news impartially and professionally. The statement followed an attack on a vehicle and some journalists from the TV station.


-- The Nation 2013-09-19

[Tatsujin]

He did not identify any group, but hinted that "hoarders of rubber supply", who he said would benefit handsomely from government permission to intervene in raw rubber sheet prices, may be behind the protests.

Probably the very same people involved in the rice game, and tapioca, and, and . . . you guys started it, find a way to end it.

[lujanit]

Good thing the rice scheme wasn't plagued with hoarders, illegal imports and double/triple selling of the same lot. Otherwise Thailand would have mountains of unsold rice costing the taxpayer billions of baht. Phew, that was a close call........

[webfact]

related

Southern rubber protesters surrender to police
By English News

BANGKOK, Sept 19 – Eight protesters in the rubber demonstrations in Thailand’s South turned themselves in to the authorities to contest charges of gathering illegally and creating disturbances for the public, police said.

Seven suspects surrendered at Bang Sapan police station in Prachuap Khiri Khan and the eight appeared at Tha Sala police station in Nakhon Si Thammarat yesterday.

National police spokesman Piya Uthayo said the seven protesters in Prachuap Khiri Khan allegedly joined the September 3-5 rubber protests when they set fire to a pile of rubber tyres and bamboo used in construction to block the highway.

They reportedly resisted arrest and fought back when police prevented them from acting with violence, injuring police officers and damaging property, said Pol Maj Gen Piya.

The seven suspects were identified as Pattana Sonthi, Kwanchai Noorung, Somkuan Damkling, Chaiyan Timtae, Manas Yodying, Vimol Suksurat and Suvapan Poomnuan.

At Tha Sala police station, Nakhon Si Thammarat, a protester identified as Amnuay Yuthitham surrended to police on a charge of closing Highway No 401 in Tha Sala district from 4pm to 10pm on September 3.

The National Police Bureau, meanwhile, called on those who claimed they were injured in police shooting to file their complaints with the authorities so that legal action would be taken against wrongdoers.

In Nakhon Si Thammarat, a major rubber planting province in Thailand’s South, provincial agricultural official Somnuek Hemmanee said 51,250 rubber farmers submitted applications for government financial assistance.

More than 70,000 farmers must officially register for the scheme, he said, adding that registration was almost complete in some districts.

The Cabinet approved financial aid at Bt2,520 per rai for each rubber farmer with a maximum 25 rai (10 acres) per household. The Budget Bureau transferred Bt5.040 billion to the Bank of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives to pay entitled rubber farmers nationwide.

The rubber farmers’ earlier demand for the government to guarantee the rubber price at Bt95/kg was rejected and the Bt2,520/rai financial assistance measure was granted instead.

There are more than 13,000 rubber farmers in Cha-uat and Chulabhorn districts and 6,100 have applied for financial assistance. Officials said the registration should finish within a week. (MCOT online news)


-- TNA 2013-09-19

[tingtongteesood]

Someone has to say it - 'Thailand - Hub of hoarding' !

[mikemac]

If it hidden amongst all the stockpiled rice.......................they will never find it !

[lee b]

Hope they dont raid the 7/11 condom shelves.....

[billd766]

"Interior Minister Charupong Ruangsuwan yesterday vowed to launch a crackdown on hidden stores of rubber products".

"The government now knows who is supporting the protests, and demands that you stop, or government inspections will be conducted to check out your rubber stockpiles," he said, without elaborating.

NOW do the same with the rice stockpile because that WOULDN'T be a double standard then, would it?