Suthep says govt fails to secure loans for rice subsidy

[webfact]

Suthep says govt fails to secure loans for rice subsidy
By Digital Content



BANGKOK, Jan 21 – The government was unsuccessful in getting loans from the Government Savings Bank (GSB) to subsidise the financially-ailing rice pledging scheme, protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban announced.

Mr Suthep, secretary general of the People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), calmed GSB depositors and other clients, saying that the bank released a statement, reassuring the public that it would definitely not extend loans to the government.

The GSB also allowed its employees to join the anti-government rallies, said Mr Suthep.

Farmers would be paid for their rice if the PDRC wins its fight against the government, adding the present administration has monopolised rice trading – an unscrupulous act which had forced rice traders to close down their businesses.

But the government could not release rice in its stockpiles which currently store about 17-18 million tonnes, he said.

Mr Suthep said farmers have begun anti-government actions similar to those of the PDRC by sealing off provincial halls to pressure the government to pay them for the rice they have sold under the rice subsidy programme.

Mr Suthep is scheduled to march from Lumpini rally site to nearby Trok Chan community today to urge people to come out on the streets to press the caretaker government to resign.

Caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra yesterday expressed regret over the deaths and injuries of protesters and instructed police to speed up their hunt for culprits.

She asked protesters to cooperate with police and military personnel for the sake of their safety and said she has assigned security-related authorities to assess if it would be necessary to enforce the emergency decree to deal with the situation.

Ms Yingluck said the government would be willing to compensate those killed and injured in the violence but approval must come from the Election Commission.

She called on the public not to disrupt the advance polls on Sunday, insisting that the country must move on and that the general election is part of democracy. (MCOT online news)


-- TNA 2014-01-21

[EricBerg]

"Farmers would be paid for their rice if the PDRC wins its fight against the government"...

Come again? Hope he doesn't mean to pay the above market prices. Help us and we continue the rice scheme? Not possible... is it?

[JRSoul]

"Farmers would be paid for their rice if the PDRC wins its fight against the government"...

Come again? Hope he doesn't mean to pay the above market prices. Help us and we continue the rice scheme? Not possible... is it?

IMHO any replacement government would have to accept the debts of the previous for rice already delivered. But if they have any sense, their first act after taking office would be to refuse accept another grain at any price until the stockpiles are cleared to an acceptable level. Make it very clear that the scam is well and truly over and the court cases now begin.

[Patje]

Next up: Mr Suthep will walk on water and the Bangkok Gulf waters will part as he walks with the protesters to the south !!!

[soi41]

"Farmers would be paid for their rice if the PDRC wins its fight against the government"...

Come again? Hope he doesn't mean to pay the above market prices. Help us and we continue the rice scheme? Not possible... is it?

He is stupid but not that stupid?? I guess he meant money owed already to the farmers!

Or maybe not? Maybe the goal for his "revolution" is to get his sticky fingers in the rice-scam till??

[EricBerg]

"Farmers would be paid for their rice if the PDRC wins its fight against the government"...

Come again? Hope he doesn't mean to pay the above market prices. Help us and we continue the rice scheme? Not possible... is it?

He is stupid but not that stupid?? I guess he meant money owed already to the farmers!

Or maybe not? Maybe the goal for his "revolution" is to get his sticky fingers in the rice-scam till??

IT'S BACKKKKKK!!!

Man, soi41, I have missed your energising and insightfull comments in this forum. Where have you been? Rehab?

By the way, are you talking of a rice scam now? Tell me who created this scam and who profited most of it? Not the farmers I suppose?

[slapout]

"Farmers would be paid for their rice if the PDRC wins its fight against the government"...

Come again? Hope he doesn't mean to pay the above market prices. Help us and we continue the rice scheme? Not possible... is it?

He is stupid but not that stupid?? I guess he meant money owed already to the farmers!

Or maybe not? Maybe the goal for his "revolution" is to get his sticky fingers in the rice-scam till??

I have no idea of Suthep's worth but just looking at the numbers made public on the 'rice scam', I doubt he or anyone else would want to touch it with a barge pole.

[patayayaya]

there gonna have more to worry bout then rice soon .........

like falang and him wallet dont come thailand any more coz Suthep Thaugsuban head leader monkey close down bangkok.

[Artisi]

"Farmers would be paid for their rice if the PDRC wins its fight against the government"...

Come again? Hope he doesn't mean to pay the above market prices. Help us and we continue the rice scheme? Not possible... is it?

IMHO any replacement government would have to accept the debts of the previous for rice already delivered. But if they have any sense, their first act after taking office would be to refuse accept another grain at any price until the stockpiles are cleared to an acceptable level. Make it very clear that the scam is well and truly over and the court cases now begin.

What a golden opportunity for the Demo's, put us back power, we will commit to paying a fair and reasonable amount of the outstanding money owed to the rice farmers - it would need explaining that it won't happen immediately but paid over time and as finances allowed, it would of course need an end date in the not too distant future, and who knows, maybe they will be able to claw back some of the money corruptly paid out to the criminal element of PTP and their ilk - although unlikely as you can bet your balls most has already been shipped off o/seas. However, where is always the "unreasonable wealth" aspect which should allow all properties / cars etc. of the crim's and their family / friends to be confiscated and used to fund the rice payments.

[Cylon]

Sutheps people are recruiting in Phuket,offering 1500 Baht a day per person to go and join protesters in Bangkok.He must have deep pockets.Anybody know where this money is coming from ?

[poisonus]

Suthep has acknowledged that they still have to be paid. The receipts have the government stamp on them and it is money in the bank that can not be reneged upon.

JRSoul is right.

When PDRC win... and they will. Then the elections will be cancelled and that means no more need for the EC to make the borrowing decision.

I assume that an emergency budget will be set up, and the farmers paid off and the scheme closed forever.

Independent rices mills will reopen and take the rice sales from there. Whatever is added as subsidy will have to wait till later.

If there is one thing that is guaranteed.... Suthep will see that this is made good, because it will show that the north especially can have confidence in an alternative government in comparison to the Thaksin regime. The north needs a new savior, because the last one has seriously let them all down.

Edited January 21, 2014 by poisonus

[pipkins]

"Farmers would be paid for their rice if the PDRC wins its fight against the government"...

Come again? Hope he doesn't mean to pay the above market prices. Help us and we continue the rice scheme? Not possible... is it?

He is stupid but not that stupid?? I guess he meant money owed already to the farmers!

Or maybe not? Maybe the goal for his "revolution" is to get his sticky fingers in the rice-scam till??

IT'S BACKKKKKK!!!

Man, soi41, I have missed your energising and insightfull comments in this forum. Where have you been? Rehab?

By the way, are you talking of a rice scam now? Tell me who created this scam and who profited most of it? Not the farmers I suppose?

Just looking through the details of the Palm Oil scam.

I'll post later, but it looks like some southern DEM leader was rigging the price and embargoing refined palm oil in an effort to drive billions of baht through his businesses. Surely that couldn't happen could it.. In the South? Maybe not on Thaivisa or Nation

Sure you can't guess who.... Trying to find some comments on amounts etc.

[bigbamboo]

Bad news for the 2.2 trillion mega deal.

If even the Thai banks won't trust this government with a loan I doubt foreign institutions will be too keen to take a risk on them either.

[123thaibourbon]

[bkkfaranguy]

"Farmers would be paid for their rice if the PDRC wins its fight against the government"...

Come again? Hope he doesn't mean to pay the above market prices. Help us and we continue the rice scheme? Not possible... is it?

IMHO any replacement government would have to accept the debts of the previous for rice already delivered. But if they have any sense, their first act after taking office would be to refuse accept another grain at any price until the stockpiles are cleared to an acceptable level. Make it very clear that the scam is well and truly over and the court cases now begin.

What a golden opportunity for the Demo's, put us back power, we will commit to paying a fair and reasonable amount of the outstanding money owed to the rice farmers - it would need explaining that it won't happen immediately but paid over time and as finances allowed, it would of course need an end date in the not too distant future, and who knows, maybe they will be able to claw back some of the money corruptly paid out to the criminal element of PTP and their ilk - although unlikely as you can bet your balls most has already been shipped off o/seas. However, where is always the "unreasonable wealth" aspect which should allow all properties / cars etc. of the crim's and their family / friends to be confiscated and used to fund the rice payments.

Artisi agreed what a golden opportunity for the Dems, Suthep and all his BKK Elite buddies should pay the rice farmers! It would be very easy for them to do with all the money they have plundered via corruption, land deals, palm oil scam, etc.that was going on long before the Shins ever showed up, the 180 billion bahht owed to the farmers is just a drop in the bucket compared to there ill gotten wealth. They need to learn from the Shins, if you are going to gain via corruption you should also give some of it back to the people that way you can actually win the hearts and minds of the people and get elected.

Edited January 21, 2014 by bkkfaranguy

[billd766]

Sutheps people are recruiting in Phuket,offering 1500 Baht a day per person to go and join protesters in Bangkok.He must have deep pockets.Anybody know where this money is coming from ?

Do you have a link, or anything confirming this?

That would be the same as me claiming that I have heard that Thaksin is offering the Red Shirts 2,000 baht a day.

Without any link or proof you statement is the same amount of bullsh1t as mine. Totally meaningless except in your mind.

My statement in my mind is just as meaningless other that as an example.

[Tatsujin]

"Farmers would be paid for their rice if the PDRC wins its fight against the government"...

Come again? Hope he doesn't mean to pay the above market prices. Help us and we continue the rice scheme? Not possible... is it?

He is stupid but not that stupid?? I guess he meant money owed already to the farmers!

Or maybe not? Maybe the goal for his "revolution" is to get his sticky fingers in the rice-scam till??

Welcome back soi41, we've all missed your insightful comments posted under this nom de plume rather than one of your others.

With regards the Rice Scam, any new Govt will be obligated to make payments already promised by the previous Govt, however there is absolutely no way they are going to continue the scam and will phase it out immediately and not accept anything new under the existing agreement. To suggest that (even in a joking manner) that they would want to get their own fingers in the till is inane to say the least when one of the main reasons for these protests is this corrupt scheme.

As it stands, it's going to take years and years for the country and the farmers to recover from this and the losses to date are just the tip of the iceberg. As the investigations continue, I'm very sure we'll finally see the true extent of the losses which will far exceed anything people anticipate. This Govt has effectively killed its standing in the world rice market for decades to come and ultimately the people who were supposed to have benefited from this will lose even more than even they realize at this point. Sad and stupid.

[Tatsujin]

Sutheps people are recruiting in Phuket,offering 1500 Baht a day per person to go and join protesters in Bangkok.He must have deep pockets.Anybody know where this money is coming from ?

So? How is that any different from Thaksin paying for people to join red sponsored protests? Both sides do it, it's the "Thai" way of doing things, right or wrong.

[Bakseeda]

"Farmers would be paid for their rice if the PDRC wins its fight against the government"...

Come again? Hope he doesn't mean to pay the above market prices. Help us and we continue the rice scheme? Not possible... is it?

I think what he means to say is that all outstanding moneys owed to farmers will be honoured by a new government, but for sure the rice pledging scheme will be reviewed to a sustainable level.

[Bakseeda]

Sutheps people are recruiting in Phuket,offering 1500 Baht a day per person to go and join protesters in Bangkok.He must have deep pockets.Anybody know where this money is coming from ?

Words are cheap , where is the proof..?

[tim armstrong]

Its simple - this government is technically broke. probably like previous governments it has allocated budgets to the all the main expenditure departments, eg. health, education, agriculture, etc., at the beginning of the financial year. But then has totally ignored that principle by moving the money around between departments depending on who needs to be kept happy. The rice pledging scheme is one of the very few areas where individuals have sold their product to the government and have a receipt, but the government has told them to wait and has now reneged on the deal. Unlike a road, or a river system or a dam, where not much will change if its delayed for six months, a rice farmer is not a road, and will starve without money, as well as getting very, very angry. Maybe the farmers next move will be to stop the supply of rice? .... and I wonder what will happen when the mega project development schemes are investigated. Supposedly they haven't started because of no finance. But have the main developers already been identified and /or paid any development costs.? and who are they ? I hope that the EC, the Supreme Courts does have the nerve to really investigate soon, because for sure the farmers won't wait.

[Robby nz]

It is the country they has been committed to paying the farmers for the rice they have sold under the scheme and any incoming Govt will have to somehow make provisions for the country to pay that debt.

I would imagine that after PT are out that Suthep or whoever will revert to the Dems subsidy that they paid the farmers when they were in power.

[ggold]

there gonna have more to worry bout then rice soon .........

like falang and him wallet dont come thailand any more coz Suthep Thaugsuban head leader monkey close down bangkok.

I wonder which is more important the Falang or him wallet?

[Scamper]

Yingluck's statements are increasingly occupying an alternate universe, and are now more relegated to a footnote or sad afterthought. They bear no relation to what is happening. Whatsoever. The election that will apparently unify the people in joy will result in a parliament without a quorum, a prospect now less than two weeks away, plunging the country into a legislative constitutional crisis. Suthep's focus on the banks has been clever, as it focuses on the ongoing unconscionable practises of this administration. As the banks are closing their doors to administrative looting, the administration is forced to look elsewhere. What can they do ? The options seem to be dwindling. Of course, an emergency decree would solve everything. No need for pesky rules then, or human rights, or any of those other petty things.

[ggold]

Sutheps people are recruiting in Phuket,offering 1500 Baht a day per person to go and join protesters in Bangkok.He must have deep pockets.Anybody know where this money is coming from ?

Anybody know where this money is coming from ?

So you didn't see the people were giving him money on his walks? Yes they are paying him. He is not paying them.

[Cylon]

My Thai staff have been offered this money to go to Bangkok. They told me at staff meeting this morning.

[jayjay49]

These 'games' that politicians play in Thai politics are SICK. Responsible politicians look for win-win solutions in stead of engraving the situation. Mr.Suthep is also no free of corruption-charges, no-one is in Thai politics, so THAT should change as soon as possible. I hope the elections will take place on the 2nd, and that they will be fair, democratic ones. And parties should talk as soon as possible, negotiate, look for win-win answers for the present chaos. Every day this chaos takes longer the Thai economy and tourism will suffer more and the effects will carry many years. Wake up Thai and get rid of your irresponsible, childish, swelf-centered politicians.

[WAERTH]

The people being offered money to go to Bangkok thing can be easily explained if you know a little bit about "Thainess"

Imagine a meeting of people at the lower cohorts of the PDRC ...

Leader of meeting: Suthep asks us to rally more people and see if we can send people to Bangkok
Person feeling important nr 1: I will send 10 people, I swear
Person feeling important nr 2 thinking shit I cannot be outdone: I will send 15.
Person feeling important nr 3: I will send 20

And on and on and on, one outbidding the other. Then at the end of the day these people are put before the block and have to actually come up with at least a few people (no one will keep them to their initial promises off course). So what they will do is offer people money to go to save their face. Off course the leadership thinks all these people show up freely. And their underlings meanwhile foot the bill because otherwise they loose face.

Typical Thainess in action

[Artisi]

Sutheps people are recruiting in Phuket,offering 1500 Baht a day per person to go and join protesters in Bangkok.He must have deep pockets.Anybody know where this money is coming from ?

Well I'm not on Phuket but I have been assured by a friend of my uncles second wife's brother's 3rd cousin who said that Thaksin's brown-nosing rabble are offering 2000Bht, a bag of rice, and a set of steak knives to the anit-government supporters not join the protesters in Bangkok.

Now that trumps you opening bid.

[casindonet]

Interesting....so now Suthep wants the share of the pie too.

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