Min of Commerce and AOT promote Thai jasmine rice as quality gift for foreigners to take home

BANGKOK, 5th October 2013 (NNT) - The Ministry of Commerce has signed an MoU with King Power Tax Free Co., Ltd and the Airport of Thailand (AOT), to jointly promote Thai Hom Mali rice as gifts that foreign tourists should take home for families and friends.

As Hom Mali rice is a unique product of Thailand with its beautiful long grain, subtle aroma and flavor, and also full of nutrients, the ministry considers it an edible culture of the country.

Mr. Yanyong Phuangrach, a Deputy Minister of Commerce has come up with a plan to put rice packets of 500 grams and 1kg each, on airport shelves. Under the cooperation made between the ministry and the AOT and King Power, stalls of Thai Hom Mali rice will be put up at Suvarnabhumi Airport, making the rice easy for outbound passengers to take home as each year over 15 million tourists are visiting Thailand. The stalls will be located at the check-in counter and at a departure lounge on both eastern and western wings.

Thai jasmine rice to be sold under the project will belong to brands which are internationally recognized such as Royal Umbrella (Chatra), Mah Boonkrong and Gold Phoenix (Hong Thong). During January-September 2013, Thailand exported nearly 5million tons of rice worth almost 100 billion baht.


-- NNT 2013-10-05

Ok please pick me off the floor when im done laughing.

They should be giving every tourist that departs Thailand a 500gram bag of free Hom Mali with a note from the P.M. hoping they had a good holiday and that they will return again and buy more rice.

I can't see many tourists actually going into that great emporium of bargains known as King Power to buy liquor, perfume and rice.

jasmine eh,if she's anything like mandy rice,it will be a take-away.

Wonder what the tourists will think when on returning home they get sprung for bring food products into their country. Big fines....

So handing in 2 year plus rotten rice served with microscopic small vermin to foreigners will get rid of 0.0000000....00001 per cent of the rice pledging scam program,... Let the Falang eat and suffer in diarrhea.

sure I'll pick up a 25 Kilo bag at duty free when I am flying out ....

But since I like long grain in all seriousness why would I do this and not go to a supermarket back in my home country? Well over 50 % of them (supermarkets) now carry long grain jasmine although the Vietnamese is cheaper and less chance it has been cut with lower grades of paddy.

Oooooooooooops Better get TAT on that

Clutching at rice straws!

Honey, I'm back...I had a great time in Thailand...and here's a bag of Thai rice...please cook it for me...I'm starving after my long flight.

Honey, I'm back...I had a great time in Thailand...and here's a bag of Thai rice...please cook it for me...I'm starving after my long flight.

didnt you try the meals on your flight.

curry and rice,

stewed pork and rice,

chicken fried rice,

rice pudding for desert,

all washed down with a glass of rice wine.

and not forgetting breakfast rice krispies.

Another brainstorm at the PM's office ?

Can we just call it a minor breeze ?

If an Australian or any traveller flying into any of our airports from Thailand walked up to quarantine/ customs holding a bag of rice it would be immediately confiscated and burned.

It will be burned along with all the other crap food passengers bring in to Australia from SEAsia and China.

Who the hell wants to receive a gift or buy a bag of useless rice and fly anywhere with it ?

Has anyone overseas ever heard of Thai jasmine rice . who cares?

How old is the rice anyway....2 years? Idiots.

Edited October 5, 201312 yr by jalansanitwong

A kilo if hom mali rice costs under 50 baht if you buy it in town, though of course it's hard to find in small bags.

Anyone like to guess the price that King Power will charge?

I guess 250 baht for a 1 kg bag.

This Commerce spokesperson forgot to check the published figure of rice export put out by the commerce ministery, which said over 6 million tons had been sold.

I guess a 20% discrepency in export figures from the same office may be a 'fogivable white lie' , but is it 1 or 2 porkies that have to be dealt with.

Then as mentioned the import of farm products are banned by many countriews in the real world.. Maybe the Foreign ministry can get more involved and ship the rice direct to the tourist/purchaser home address via diplomatic pouch.

I wonder what loss of rice is sanctioned in transport from packaging to the distribution outlets?

What do we really expect from a group who are a couple notches below the village idiot, when it comes to scrounging money from the people.

This is hilarious.

In the UK, most people eat Basmati rice which is a far superior rice with much less sticky starch, and lovely nutty flavour.

In Nepal it is everywhere, and my Thai wife says its the best rice she ever had, and brought some back with her, and her family want us to bring a lot back when we go again in November.

Sorry Thailand, your rice aint the best in the world, as usual, you are deluded with Thai superiority.

They really don't have a clue!

I think it's a brilliant idea for tourism. Some guy in the U.K. , Australia or wherever..... To his wife "honey we've run out of rice . I'll just duck out and get some" A couple of days in Pattaya and he picks up the 1KG of rice at King Power on his way out through swampy to take back home to the wife.

What could be better.

Thai politicians and those who come up with these ideas remind me of those computer users who post long posts saying how by downloading this software and that software and doing that they can fix a computer problem. A bit of knowledge and they will know it can be done with one inbuilt command. Solving problems need knowledge and while people will not look at the real facts they cdannot solve them efficiently.

In the same vein perhaps Thai visitors to UK could delight their families and friends with a few bags of King Edwards when they return to Thailand.

Perhaps a refund for all the tourist scams might be better appreciated.

sent from my hippo phone

This is the biggest load of crop I've heard in a long time.

What will they think of next?

sure I'll pick up a 25 Kilo bag at duty free when I am flying out ....

But since I like long grain in all seriousness why would I do this and not go to a supermarket back in my home country? Well over 50 % of them (supermarkets) now carry long grain jasmine although the Vietnamese is cheaper and less chance it has been cut with lower grades of paddy.

Oooooooooooops Better get TAT on that

That problem is already solved by King Power.

You pay for a 25 kg bag but for your convenience they give you only 0.5 kg.

One novel idea to get rid of the million of tones of rotting rice in the government

warehouse, in fact, I'm surprise it's mandatory yet to buy a kilo of rice as you

leave Thailand, maybe they haven't thought about it yet...

This is the biggest load of crop I've heard in a long time.

What will they think of next?

First I thought, every tourist get a 0.5 kg bag as gift. Maybe with a letter saying thank you for visiting Thailand.

And I thought it is a great idea...you can't sell the rice anyway and it is very charming.

Than I read "The stalls will be located at the check-in counter".

Since than I think how I can write what I think about this idea....I have no words

Big problem will be the confiscation of it when they get back to customs/agriculture in their own country ...

Big problem will be the confiscation of it when they get back to customs/agriculture in their own country ...

Another will be explaining to your friends why you brought them a cheap present all the way back from Thailand that they could easily buy for themselves in their local supermarket.

Edited October 5, 201312 yr by bigbamboo

Take back some rice to show your support for exploitation of illegal migrant workers and child labor.

This is the biggest load of crop I've heard in a long time.

What will they think of next?

First I thought, every tourist get a 0.5 kg bag as gift. Maybe with a letter saying thank you for visiting Thailand.

And I thought it is a great idea...you can't sell the rice anyway and it is very charming.

Than I read "The stalls will be located at the check-in counter".

Since than I think how I can write what I think about this idea....I have no words

And of course nobody has thought about the costs of designing and building the lovely sales.

Then salaries must be paid to the sales staff and there will need to be some checking / auditing activity to ensure the

income has ben banked etc. and regular checks that remaining stocks are correct, etc., all recurring costs regardless of income.

Will they charge extra for the mold and the rat droppings?