Tens of thousands of farmers in hundreds of farm trucks heading to Bangkok

[djjamie]

RT @RichardBarrow: 11:30am This is what is heading to #Bangkok; 100’s of farmers & their tractors. Now in Ang Thong (Pic @CrDNnews) http://t.co/gulQbf5Soy

Just a thought if these farmers are so poor and skint whos paying for all the fuel ? tractors are not that fuel efficient and its a long way to bangers and back. im no expert on tractor mpg but its got to be pretty awful and expensive on a round trip.

And why do all the tractors look like they came from exactly the same place or hire firm ?

You obviously are a town or city dweller.

They all look the same as that is the colour they come from the Kubota factory. Yanmar tractors are red and Ford tractors are blue.

Don't you know anything about farmers and the countryside?

Next he will say that all the flags look the same and wonder if they all came from the same factory or hire firm.

[PoorSucker]

Insult and responses removed.

[Basil B]

Just how untenable has the position of PM to become before she can see the writing one the wall???

[iancnx]

English oak

Hire Purchase or HP is an old Brit term for vehicle financing. A farmer can get one of these Kobota as for a few thousand per month. He then hires it out to fellow farmers on an as needed basis for ploughing fields etc.

You are crazy if you think they are daily hired for this protest, that is just not possible in the market place I am aware of.

Edited February 20, 2014 by iancnx

[Patje]

I do hope they get there, seen the state of most vehicles on the picture !!!

[Davidhere]

Well the one thing they don't want when these thousands of farm vehicles reach Bangkok is for the heavens to open and Bangkok floods again.

Lets see a thousand klm or more at 20klm's an hour, crikey thats over a month 1 way.

By the time some of them get here the protest will be over. By the time they get back home there will be more protests on and around it goes.

Ahh you gotta love Thailand.

Slightly over 2 days, actually.......

He struggles so with the geography of the OP:

The farmers from Uthai Thani, Nakhon Sawan, Lopburi, Ang Thong, Singburi, headed to Bangkok

to which he retorts "a thousand klm or more"

[Jeremy50]

Where I live the are just now planting a new crop of rice while these farmers and protesting who planting the rice? No wonder their poor.

Slow down, take a deep breath.

[Davidhere]

BANGKOK, 20 February 2014, (NNT) -- Due to various rallies around Bangkok and its vicinity, all passengers travelling to Suvarnabhumi Airport have been advised to carefully check their routes or find alternative means of transport in order to avoid missing flights. Passengers should also leave for the airport at least 3-4 hours prior to their scheduled flights.

Suvarnabhumi Airport's announcement came amid heavy traffic congestion around the capital resulting from road closures by various anti-government rallies. In order to avoid missing flights, passengers should plan their traveling routes carefully and leave for the airport at least 3-4 hours ahead of scheduled flights.

http://61.19.244.31/centerweb/newsen/NewsDetail?NT01_NewsID=WNSOC5702200010006

[darren84310]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

Where I live the are just now planting a new crop of rice while these farmers and protesting who planting the rice? No wonder their poor.

There poor because they haven't been paid for their Rice ! .....

And therefore don't have the money to plant a new crop!!!!.... Have you been drinking too much lao kaew Red Snake?

[realenglish1]

Hey Everyone SHORT the Rice market They are protesting and not planting

[Misterwhisper]

RT @RichardBarrow: 11:30am This is what is heading to #Bangkok; 100’s of farmers & their tractors. Now in Ang Thong (Pic @CrDNnews) http://t.co/gulQbf5Soy

Just a thought if these farmers are so poor and skint whos paying for all the fuel ? tractors are not that fuel efficient and its a long way to bangers and back. im no expert on tractor mpg but its got to be pretty awful and expensive on a round trip.

And why do all the tractors look like they came from exactly the same place or hire firm ?

You obviously are a town or city dweller.

They all look the same as that is the colour they come from the Kubota factory. Yanmar tractors are red and Ford tractors are blue.

Don't you know anything about farmers and the countryside?

Next he will say that all the flags look the same and wonder if they all came from the same factory or hire firm.

And spinning this dumb theory further, the traffic cones and the yellow lines on the street must've been financed by anti-government forces, too. I mean, they all look alike.

[hansnl]

Where I live the are just now planting a new crop of rice while these farmers and protesting who planting the rice? No wonder their poor.

In my wife's village, which is 100% red shirt, most have not been paid and have no money to buy supplies for a new crop. Many owe money to illegal money lenders and are in dire straights.

And are they still one hundred percent red shirt minded?

I would not be too much surprised if some of the profit of the illegal money lenders will, in the form of squeeze, ultimately end up in the coffers of a certain family.

A friend just lost his own piece of land because had no money to pay back the loan.

He assures in his village alone around 40 rai has been taken away already

Edited February 20, 2014 by hansnl

[metisdead]

A flame post has been removed.

[billd766]

Well the one thing they don't want when these thousands of farm vehicles reach Bangkok is for the heavens to open and Bangkok floods again.

Lets see a thousand klm or more at 20klm's an hour, crikey thats over a month 1 way.

By the time some of them get here the protest will be over. By the time they get back home there will be more protests on and around it goes.

Ahh you gotta love Thailand.

Slightly over 2 days, actually.......

He struggles so with the geography of the OP:

The farmers from Uthai Thani, Nakhon Sawan, Lopburi, Ang Thong, Singburi, headed to Bangkok

to which he retorts "a thousand klm or more"

Uthai Thani and Nakhon Sawan are the furthest from BKK at around 250 km and Sing Buri the closest at about 150 km.

Edited February 20, 2014 by billd766

[billsmart]

Where I live the are just now planting a new crop of rice while these farmers and protesting who planting the rice? No wonder their poor.

In my wife's village, which is 100% red shirt, most have not been paid and have no money to buy supplies for a new crop. Many owe money to illegal money lenders and are in dire straights.

Same for my wife's family. The whole village is in financial dire straights. Nobody there has any money. But STILL they vote for the Shinawatra clan. In the Sunday election a couple of weeks ago my wife was intimidated into voting. She said there would be "problems" if she didn't go back to the village to cast her vote.

Same in my wife's village. It's crazy, but they hate the dems more than they hate the PTP. They are still loyal to the Shin clan even they they are getting screwed and still living below the poverty line.

They still support the Redshirts because they know if the Yellowshirts ever regain control of the government they'll be screwed for sure. The Yellowshirts will make sure they either completely loose their vote or start changing the rules to make sure they are rapidly disenfranchised in some other way. They will shut down any public money flowing out of Bangkok and make sure it stays there with their elite cronies. Prices on rice will be kept low and interest rates on loans to small farmers will rise. Any farming subsidies for the small farmer will of course be discontinued. These will be replaced with subsidies to the Bangkok elite in the form of tax exemptions, low interest rates and awards of bloated government contracts. Thailand will swiftly drift back into a more obvious plutocracy and this dipping-of-the-toe into the water of democracy will be all but abandoned.

The Thai's are used to their leaders skimming off the top. That's the way their whole village/tribal governmental system has worked for centuries. It was much like the feudal lords of Europe. A certain amount of tribute (now called corruption) is to be expected. The Redshirts are patrons of the farmers and working poor. The Yellowshirts are patrons of the elite. Those farmers who still now support the Redshirts are just following the old adage of: "Better the devil you know than the devil you don't".

Edited February 20, 2014 by billsmart

[marcusd]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

Where I live the are just now planting a new crop of rice while these farmers and protesting who planting the rice? No wonder their poor.

In my wife's village, which is 100% red shirt, most have not been paid and have no money to buy supplies for a new crop. Many owe money to illegal money lenders and are in dire straights.

I guess the farmer where I live are smart and have money or been paid by the government

Maybe unlike some posters here Mr Snake. Why not ask your wife to find out rather than make suggestions they are smarter. Remember some farmers have been paid but SOME is not MANY and the MANY are now angry

[FiftyTwo]

Where I live the are just now planting a new crop of rice while these farmers and protesting who planting the rice? No wonder their poor.

If they had been paid by the Government they would have the cash to plant new crop.

But who to blame for non-payment?

The red government for owing the money in the first place.

or the Yellows for preventing the government from raising the cash to pay them.

As for planting, most farmers keep enough seed back from the last crop, to plant the new crop.

PS

Small farmers didn't get the chance to sell to the government, so they have already been paid.

Edited February 20, 2014 by FiftyTwo

[anon467367354]

Finally....a group of people with something real to protest. Hopefully they do not allow that clown Suthep to hi-jack their message for his own political gains. Good on the farmers to ignore the PTP trying to squash them!

I think if it wasn't for Suthep they wouldn't be heading to Bangkok.

I would be proud of Suthep if he assisting them in the cost of the fuel from the

many many donations from the good protestors.

You think the rice scheme should only be protested by the farmers and no one else?

Who's the real clown here?

[Robby nz]

Well the one thing they don't want when these thousands of farm vehicles reach Bangkok is for the heavens to open and Bangkok floods again.

Lets see a thousand klm or more at 20klm's an hour, crikey thats over a month 1 way.

By the time some of them get here the protest will be over. By the time they get back home there will be more protests on and around it goes.

Ahh you gotta love Thailand.

Slightly over 2 days, actually.......

He struggles so with the geography of the OP:

The farmers from Uthai Thani, Nakhon Sawan, Lopburi, Ang Thong, Singburi, headed to Bangkok

to which he retorts "a thousand klm or more"

Uthai Thani and Nakhon Sawan are the furthest from BKK at around 250 km and Sing Buri the closest at about 150 km.

Singburi is 140 , it may surprise some to know that farmers don't work just 9 to 5 so they have around 11 hours of daylight at this time of year, meaning if the wanted they could do the whole trip in a day.

Lay out the welcome mat for tomorrow.

As for where they got the money for the diesel ; how many million did Suthep raise for them ? The only one who has actually done anything to help them.

But that may not be correct, did not one of the reds in the north say they would do something to help ? Perhaps they paid for it.

[bangkokpoppys]

The end is near for the Shins - but whats to follow - no ones knows.

keep watching Kiev, that should provide some clues.

in security commentary, it is noted that without a visible, viable major alternative to Dems and PTP (I know there are other smaller players out there) - the path to peace will be unpredictable and unpleasant. Either the smaller players will need to bandy together and become popular and Mr Fixit's, or the Dems will keep chasing the Shins and around we go like a typhoon, drawing in debris for collateral damage. good name for a film.

[englishoak]

English oak

Hire Purchase or HP is an old Brit term for vehicle financing. A farmer can get one of these Kobota as for a few thousand per month. He then hires it out to fellow farmers on an as needed basis for ploughing fields etc.

You are crazy if you think they are daily hired for this protest, that is just not possible in the market place I am aware of.

Im not crazy just clueless about farming and machinery financing is all. Thank you for a decent answer, unlike some other bozos here cheering these guys not getting paid when it suits them I would just like to see them sorted first and argue about the legality on court and hang people after for it.

So im going to ask another stupid question or two how much you estimate cost to have a 500 or so km round trip ? no ones answered that yet

And second dumb question wouldnt the pick up be far far more cost effective for skint farmers to use than a tractor and a lot more manpower to protest with let alone agile to go from A - B in bkk like weve seen before and just what will a load of tractor achieve more than a shed load of farmers in trucks ?

Don't laugh all you would be plastic farmers im sure theres businesses you wouldnt have a clue about or would be able to cost too. A real farmer would know the costing answer and the reasoning behind this tractor show over the usual trucks without being a smart alec

[BigMountain]

Finally....a group of people with something real to protest. Hopefully they do not allow that clown Suthep to hi-jack their message for his own political gains. Good on the farmers to ignore the PTP trying to squash them!

I think if it wasn't for Suthep they wouldn't be heading to Bangkok.

I would be proud of Suthep if he assisting them in the cost of the fuel from the

many many donations from the good protestors.

You think the rice scheme should only be protested by the farmers and no one else?

Who's the real clown here?

So Suthep has been protesting the rice scheme all this time? Amazing! You seem to be saying the dems are paying for the farmers to protest.... it may or not be so. If they are funded by the dems hopefully they take the money and publically distance themselves!

[FiftyTwo]

@englishoak

Slow tractor on road causes maximum disruption to traffic.

Pickup would be fined for deliberately driving slowly to disrupt traffic.

Not about fuel costing.

Farmer protests in UK and France play the same game.

Edited February 20, 2014 by FiftyTwo

[fleeing]

English oak

Hire Purchase or HP is an old Brit term for vehicle financing. A farmer can get one of these Kobota as for a few thousand per month. He then hires it out to fellow farmers on an as needed basis for ploughing fields etc.

You are crazy if you think they are daily hired for this protest, that is just not possible in the market place I am aware of.

Im not crazy just clueless about farming and machinery financing is all. Thank you for a decent answer, unlike some other bozos here cheering these guys not getting paid when it suits them I would just like to see them sorted first and argue about the legality on court and hang people after for it.

So im going to ask another stupid question or two how much you estimate cost to have a 500 or so km round trip ? no ones answered that yet

And second dumb question wouldnt the pick up be far far more cost effective for skint farmers to use than a tractor and a lot more manpower to protest with let alone agile to go from A - B in bkk like weve seen before and just what will a load of tractor achieve more than a shed load of farmers in trucks ?

Don't laugh all you would be plastic farmers im sure theres businesses you wouldnt have a clue about or would be able to cost too. A real farmer would know the costing answer and the reasoning behind this tractor show over the usual trucks without being a smart alec

Mid-range Kubotas should run about 10 to 12 km/l if they're easy on the gas pedal on a steady run like this, but note that 500 km round trip is only for those from Nakhon Sawan. From Utai Thani 400 km round trip.

I can imagine after being called 'fake farmers' that they felt the need to show clearly that they are not.

[samjaidee]

Where I live the are just now planting a new crop of rice while these farmers and protesting who planting the rice? No wonder their poor.

Their poor what?

[SICHONSTEVE]

Where I live the are just now planting a new crop of rice while these farmers and protesting who planting the rice? No wonder their poor.

In my wife's village, which is 100% red shirt, most have not been paid and have no money to buy supplies for a new crop. Many owe money to illegal money lenders and are in dire straights.

.....and who are they going to vote for at the next election, that's what I'm keen to find out??

[Mentors]

The Southerner get bored. Now The Democrats and their finance supporters try to pay the people in Central Thailand

[ultimate weapon]

Where I live the are just now planting a new crop of rice while these farmers and protesting who planting the rice? No wonder their poor.

WTH are you talking about? Of course they are planting a new crop of rice. You mean to tell me they should leave their lands unused and not grow a newer batch of rice? You wouldn't manage a manufacturing plant at all.

[SICHONSTEVE]

English oak

Hire Purchase or HP is an old Brit term for vehicle financing. A farmer can get one of these Kobota as for a few thousand per month. He then hires it out to fellow farmers on an as needed basis for ploughing fields etc.

You are crazy if you think they are daily hired for this protest, that is just not possible in the market place I am aware of.

Im not crazy just clueless about farming and machinery financing is all. Thank you for a decent answer, unlike some other bozos here cheering these guys not getting paid when it suits them I would just like to see them sorted first and argue about the legality on court and hang people after for it.

So im going to ask another stupid question or two how much you estimate cost to have a 500 or so km round trip ? no ones answered that yet

And second dumb question wouldnt the pick up be far far more cost effective for skint farmers to use than a tractor and a lot more manpower to protest with let alone agile to go from A - B in bkk like weve seen before and just what will a load of tractor achieve more than a shed load of farmers in trucks ?

Don't laugh all you would be plastic farmers im sure theres businesses you wouldnt have a clue about or would be able to cost too. A real farmer would know the costing answer and the reasoning behind this tractor show over the usual trucks without being a smart alec

First you complain about the PDRC and Suthep, now you complain about the farmers suffering real hard ship, I know what's next in line - the NACC when they 'so unfairly' banish her from politics and send her down!!!

Yingluck is not going to be happy when she see's all of these tractors and farmer vehicles chugging along the highway seeking her out for an explanation as to 'what has she done with their hard earned money'!!!

Thaksin must be having kittens about all of this.

[freedom4life]

Where I live the are just now planting a new crop of rice while these farmers and protesting who planting the rice? No wonder their poor.

What wonderful reasoning you have...