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

Aussie customs will have a field day with that:) They will just confiscate it - though I will stand corrected. My wife doesn't seem to know if you can take rice into Australia. never tried it - but what would be for sure is that unpackaged 'fresh' rice would be taken off your hands.

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.

maybe they can make a package deal and sell with a t-shirt. "My mate went to Thailand and all he got me was a bag of rice"...

take home some E coli in a bag.Who thinks up these ideas?

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

Aussie customs will have a field day with that:) They will just confiscate it - though I will stand corrected. My wife doesn't seem to know if you can take rice into Australia. never tried it - but what would be for sure is that unpackaged 'fresh' rice would be taken off your hands.

A couple of weeks ago I took a small (1KG) bag of black Thai jasmine rice with me to Australia. It was really just to show friends as they hadn't seen it in Oz and they blend their rice i.e. white and brown for health reasons. Declared it with quarantine at Customs and had no problem at all. It was in vacuum sealed commercial packaging though.

When ever we go back on a visit my wife usually buys fresh curry pastes and freshly cooked "pla tu" fish at the local markets and takes this back for friends. All of it is in unmarked packets as she packs it herself. We always declare everything and never a problem. A quarantine guy at Brisbane airport checked the curry pastes once and his only comment was 'You're making me hungry".

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.

I would venture to say marketing research is not one of their strong points.

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...

Why stop at a kilo, they could do a mandatory filling up of passenger bags to the maximum weight

Serves the North American travellers right, showing off with their 2-bag-50lb-in-economy limit

I guess thailand is trying to get rid of this rice a few grains at at time. My wife got a small bag with a fill up of the car at PTT.

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

warehouse,

Here we go with the PTP red obsessors - earth to Thaivisa readers - Long grain thai jasmine is the high end of the market, its the rice that actually is being sold, can be sold - HAS A MARKET! Thats what they want to give the tourists. The rotting rice in warehouses that you are so concerned about is composed of lower grades of paddy

Lets not lose the plot so early in the day gentlemen,

It will be interesting to see what King Power charge for a small bag of rice

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.

buy for themselves in their local supermarket....for half the price

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.

that checking / auditing isn't necessary....you just use PTP cronies. They are honest and everything will be OK.

It will be interesting to see what King Power charge for a small bag of rice

my guess 599 Baht

I thought Jasmine rice was only a small part of the total crop and in demand therefore easy to sell.

If this is correct then where is the need for this?

Surely the need is to get rid of the other grades, types, that are in the warehouses.

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

and the weevils will need quarantine

I thought Jasmine rice was only a small part of the total crop and in demand therefore easy to sell.

If this is correct then where is the need for this?

Surely the need is to get rid of the other grades, types, that are in the warehouses.

Because they are thinking that a stupid consumer might try it, and then go to buy "Thai Rice" in the super market overseas.

What a disappointment that might be.

Thailand is always worried to loose face - but actually they do everything to loose it - they make sure to loose it every day again...

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

My first thought exactly, especially if you happen to be going into the US....!

Will these 'gifts' be free? I doubt it

yea take some rice home,

the wife "when cooking rice this rice smells bad and has bugs in it"

report to thailand about the rice,thailands answer "must have been the airlines fault,that is100% thai rice"

it was good when it left thailand

"Thai jasmine rice promoted as quality gift for foreigners to take home"...

Yeah right. I can see Aussie & USA Ag & Fish and plant quarantine people

agreeing with this "gift" 100%...not to mention the same folks in the Euro zone.

Have these people who thought this up no education?

At one time, long ago I thought small Thai "Spirit Houses" very detailed &

made of wood boxed as a gift would be great....and even looked into having

these made for sale at duty free stores at a fair price. Then there was the

issue of wood...how could I guarantee that the wood I'd use was free of

"pests"? Couldn't argue with that so the idea went into hibernation. So

much for that.

Anyway I reckon this "scheme" (love the word) fits nicely with this....

Unlike most, I for one think its not a bad idea, apart from it being sold in duty free shops.

Yes, sell Thai rice at tourist oriented shops, it has a little charm to it bringing a taste of thailand home even though it can be bought in most supermarkets.

Sell it in restaurants, but not in king power. In my 40 plus trips to thailand I have never bought anything from the duty free shops, because like most countries the products may be duty free but they carry a heavy mark up, making them hardly worth it, if not more expensive than tesco lotus and big c.

I don't see a problem with it also. I really like Jasmine rice.

"Thai jasmine rice promoted as quality gift for foreigners to take home"...

Yeah right. I can see Aussie & USA Ag & Fish and plant quarantine people

agreeing with this "gift" 100%...not to mention the same folks in the Euro zone.

Have these people who thought this up no education?

At one time, long ago I thought small Thai "Spirit Houses" very detailed &

made of wood boxed as a gift would be great....and even looked into having

these made for sale at duty free stores at a fair price. Then there was the

issue of wood...how could I guarantee that the wood I'd use was free of

"pests"? Couldn't argue with that so the idea went into hibernation. So

much for that.

Anyway I reckon this "scheme" (love the word) fits nicely with this....

Funny-Pics-14.02-7.jpg

There are many foodstuffs that are allowed through Customs, rice being one of them although it must be declared.

http://www.csu.edu.au/international/starting-on-campus/immigration-and-customs-regulations

The same goes for Europe and USA, Thailand is not on the Khapra beetle infestation list.

Of course, many people on TV laugh at the idea of Thai rice being taken back to a home country as a gift but to be honest, I can see it working!

It's the idea of something that is an original product from the country you have visited, regardless what it is and has LOS got anything original?

Thai jasmine rice IS a premium product in many western countries, rightly or wrongly, that is how it is considered by many shoppers who buy other makes because they are cheaper.

People visit Aussie and bring back a miniature boomerang or cuddly koala teddy etc. with a 'Made in China' label. It represents Australia.

But of course, unless you live in LOS then you're just a stupid farang who doesn't know what you are buying and with the stands located at check-in, a few baht in your pocket that you want to get rid of before you leave? I bet if someone done a survey of how many bags are sold they will be in for a surprise!

Good marketing idea, shame it's rice!

Edited for adding extra info about the USA

Edited October 5, 201312 yr by Madgee

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

Just stay down there because it gets even worse.

Edited October 5, 201312 yr by unanimosity

It would be a nice idea if they handed small (say 1 kg) bags to departing tourists for free.

Putting them in King Power is where it goes off the rails. High prices and scams.

I've akways advised any visiting friends to avoid KP like the plague. Cheaper 'duty free' in Foodland.

Good idea, so they not get sick in Thailand... And who produce the rice?

Christ, they can't even give it away.

LOL try giving Thai rice as a superior rice to East Asians (Japanese, Korean Chinese). They make a mockery of it calling it the "flying rice" because it's not hearty.

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

What will they think of next?

Don't ask... it will arrive predictibly as a distraction from whatever ails the gov't at the time and be equally astonishing to even 'semi' rational people.

In all seriousness, compared to all the rice in the world, Thai rice is rated 4 out of 10.