it reminds me of Chairman Mao's directive, when told that sparrows were eating some of the grain from the granaries. Mao ordered that all sparrows be killed. There's actually crude b&w footage showing Chinese roaming the countryside, clanging pots beneath trees, to compel the dead-tired little birds to fall and be killed. Plus there are pictures of pick-up trucks over-laden with mounds of sparrows.

The next year, the granaries lost many times more grain. This time it was bugs. Apparently the sparrows had kept the bug population down.

Thailand's sage leaders, with their million cow program, sound like bumbling buffoons stuck in a past era. Even in the best case scenario, cattle don't make sense environmentally - although, to be fair - free-roaming cattle (as you most often find in Thailand) are preferable to feed-lot types.

Thank you for putting that historical perspective in context, plachon...

In view of the TRT/Thaksin support, for this failed mega-project, and general reluctance to be seen to actually have killed-off the hand-out, will it at some point be declared officially a Sacred-Cow of Thai politics ?

And should we expect a wave of requests, in the famed cattle-ranches of Soi Cowboy, for cash to fund vaccines & special-foods & massage-fees, for the Sacred-Cows of Isaarn ?

The price of cows has dropped sharply over the last year, much to the disappointment of our local Udon farmers, I guess due to oversupply, would the over 17,000 cattle involved in this scheme have had an effect on that pricefall?

If so, the politicians opposed to TRT should make political capital over it.

The verdict is in now after the Cabinet meeting.... and Thaksin's Cow has been barbecued....

No more free cows

The cabinet decided to scrap the One Million Cow distribution project, a populist project initiated by the Thaksin Shinawatra government, Deputy Prime Minister and Industry Minister Kosit Panpiemras said after the Cabinet meeting Tuesday. The project, initiated in 2005, planned to distribute one million calves to farmers to raise. The farmers would later sell the cattle back to the state. So far, a total of 21,684 calves were distributed to 10,883 farmers nationwide. According to Mr Kosit, a committee comprised of representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives will be set up to engage in a talk with participating villagers to settle compensation.

Continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/b...s.php?id=123765

Thaksin's beef cattle scheme at an end

The Cabinet yesterday officially discontinued a populist policy initiated by the Thaksin Shinawatra government to lease beef cattle to one million farming families.

Under the Cabinet's directive, the Livestock Department and the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) will jointly continue to support the 8,962 families that are still raising 17,835 beef oxen and cows until the animals are sold.

Thai Business Support (TBS), which was set up under the original policy issued in November 2004 to operate the scheme on behalf of the BAAC, will demand civil damages from farmers that have already sold the cattle prematurely in violation of the deal.

The TBS is required to compensate all costs paid by the BAAC in advance to participating farmers. The new government following the election on December 23 will then consider whether to continue the TBS operation or not.

Under the Cabinet's directive, farmers who sold cattle calculated in kilograms of butchered beef for less than Bt1,000 per head - on top of the amount spent raising the animal - will receive compensation from the TBS.

Under the original scheme, farming families were given free cattle and would earn money from selling butchered beef for a higher rate than the agreed amount that needed to be returned to the TBS as the basic cost. Any calves born from the cattle belonged to the families.

- The Nation

Cabinet terminates project of cows for 1 million families

The Cabinet Tuesday approved the Agriculture Ministry's proposal to cancel the project of cows for 1 million families.

The Cabinet also instructed the Livestock Department and the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives to take care of 8,962 families, which are still raising 17,835 cows until the cows could be sold.

Source: The Nation - 21 November 2007