Thai rice auction to go ahead despite NACC's ruling on the rice scam

[webfact]

Rice auction to go ahead despite NACC's ruling on the rice scam



BANGKOK: -- The Foreign Trade Department (FTD) re-affirmed its decision to accept bids for the government rice stocks for export with the hopes of re-establishing the country as the leader in rice exports.

However local exporters warn that the government’s rush to release its stock will have repercussions to prices which are already well below any expectations.

FTD director-general Surasakdi Riangkrua said that although it was well known fact that rice prices in April are usually at rock bottom however there are indications of a steady rise.

He said naturally the current drought has affected world market prices as well.

He said he believed the prices will rise slowly and steadily.

He said Thailand hoped to export up to 10 million tons or at very least between 8-10 million tons this year.

But Thai Rice Exporters Association president Chukiat Opaswong said a caretaker government has no authority to develop policies to remedy the current situation.

Without an elected government in place, all the caretaker government can do is sell its current stocks which would of course affect market prices.

He said this will mean that this season’s rice will not fetch a good price due to the government’s decision to quickly dissolve its stock and as such prices will continue to drop.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/rice-auction-go-ahead-despite-naccs-ruling-rice-scam/


-- Thai PBS 2014-05-09

[jaidam]

Good to see the Thai news agencies have given up pretending that this is actually a viable "scheme" and are instead calling it more accurately the rice "scam".

[NongKhaiKid]

" Money, Money, Money, it's rich mans' world " AND don't get in our way.

[Ricardo]

"He said Thailand hoped to export up to 10 million tons or at very least between 8-10 million tons this year."

The relevant words being "hoped", "up to" and "or".

Of course the caretaker-government, and its civil-service helpers, should continue to try to shift the rice-mountain, and of course the long-term aim is "re-establishing the country as the leader in rice exports." as the OP says, but lets be realistic about the scale of the damage this scheme has done to the industry, and the time it will take to recover & to shift or write-off the accumulated-stocks of ageing rice.

The disaster is far from over.

[Scamper]

" But Thai Rice Exporters Association president Chukiat Opaswong said a caretaker government has no authority to develop policies to remedy the current situation. "

No, but that won't stop them. They can't elected a prime minster from anything other than from a quorum-filled parliament, or from the Senate in the event of a quorum-less parliament - but they claim to have done just that. Why ? Because they said so, that's why. They've selected a prime minister from half a caretaker cabinet, even though there is no provision in the constitution to do so. But that won't stop them. Chalerm has been removed, but he's not going anywhere. Surapong's been removed, and not only is he not budging, he's planning his next ministerial function. So yes, this crazy, crazy administration - that is directed from someone they now call a prime minister, from half a caretaker cabinet, with no legislative power, no parliament, and no public mandate - they're going on despite what anyone thinks. Problem is, they can't actually do anything.

[onlycw]

How about an official end of that scheme? No more rice will be bought up - and certainly those 40 bn Baht not borrowed to entice new participants and then pay them on a LIFO, last-in-first-out basis while the folks with their 2013 vouchers wring their hands in despair.

This is a perishible good. The taxpayers are the true owners and there is a case for direct democarcy. Let's ask them!

Q1: Are you in favor of dumping the rice on the world market - tick here

or tick there if you want to continue storing it at a high cost while it degrades and gets mouldy?

Q2: Are you in favor of xx billion Baht being wasted by design on this scheme every year and for the forseable future?

They should officially end this madness. No more rice purchases, please. Clear up this unbelievable mess first. And be totally transparent about what went down. Quantities, corruption, costs, middle men profiting etc. And show how much of the billions were paid to the farmers. (While the poorest few hundred thousand could not even participate).

Fat cats getting all the cream? Some things will never change, eh?

[smedly]

good to see this is continuing as the farmers need to be paid

I noticed on another thread this morning that the farmers (according to the story which I don't believe) are now blaming the Democrat party as the reason they are not being paid

Seems to me there is now a media blitz taking place by PTP throwing around lies aimed at confusing people - the source of any news story needs to taken into consideration before trusting it's contents

[rickirs]

How can the Constitutional Court and the NACC allow the rice program to continue as it was determined to be a corrupt and misguided program! To allow Government sales is to perpetuate corruption and a further drain on the federal budget.

The Government should be ordered to cease all sales activity immediately and cancel all orders. Since farmers had pledged the rice to the Government, the Government is the owner and to avoid continued storage costs the entire Government rice supply should be (backed up by military armed forces if necessary) dumped into a landfill for fertilizer, and default on any further payments to the farmers. That will teach the farmers that if they want to sell rice, do it themselves like they has always done it in the past and make less than survival income.

By these actions against the rice program, I am sure the farmers will appreciate the independent agencies efforts to restore honesty and responsibility to Government actions by voting in the future against the PTP and embracing the Democrats.

(actually I am being sarcastic)

[Thaiisnotrequired]

" Money, Money, Money, it's rich mans' world " AND don't get in our way.

Damn it man! You just put ABBA in my head for the day! That song's gonna be churning all day... ..

[Trouble]

Seems to me that Thailand must continue to market the stored rice (1) to rid itself of the stored rice and (2) to use the money to pay the farmers. Hopefully they will continue to have auctions periodically without dumping everything too fast so that there can be an end to this mess. Let the world market place determine the price of rice in Thailand. The farmers can either produce at a price that they can make a living or they can't. It is a difficult situation for the farmers but governments stepping in to try to control things only makes matters worse. I think in theory the government tried to help the farmers hoping they could withstand the fluctuations in the price of rice but unfortunately Thailand does not have the economic resources to pull this kind of stunt off. Doesn't help that in Thailand there are too many ways for people to profit through corruption in what might have been a way of stabilizing rice pricing. Unfortunately governments worldwide try to meddle in economic factors beyond their ability to control.

[Sparkles]

According to many news reports this fiasco has already caused 17 suicides amongst the farming community

who have had to rely on loan sharks to feed their families as they didn't get paid as promised .And what of the next crop

more empty promises of a good price ?

Rainy season is with us so all the tonnes of rice still unsold will be of very dodgy quality, in most cases.

[thhMan]

This is Thailand...

Does anyone really believe that if the rice is sold, that farmers will get paid?

[Strangebrew]

I guess after calling a spade a spade for so long the Thai's finally see wht I saw 2 years ago a SCAM. Not bad for dumb falang

[Evolare]

How about an official end of that scheme? No more rice will be bought up - and certainly those 40 bn Baht not borrowed to entice new participants and then pay them on a LIFO, last-in-first-out basis while the folks with their 2013 vouchers wring their hands in despair.

This is a perishible good. The taxpayers are the true owners and there is a case for direct democarcy. Let's ask them!

Q1: Are you in favor of dumping the rice on the world market - tick here

or tick there if you want to continue storing it at a high cost while it degrades and gets mouldy?

Q2: Are you in favor of xx billion Baht being wasted by design on this scheme every year and for the forseable future?

They should officially end this madness. No more rice purchases, please. Clear up this unbelievable mess first. And be totally transparent about what went down. Quantities, corruption, costs, middle men profiting etc. And show how much of the billions were paid to the farmers. (While the poorest few hundred thousand could not even participate).

Fat cats getting all the cream? Some things will never change, eh?

Why lifo why not fifo based payment should be first in first out...ie you think those that have waited the longest should be paid first...

[Evolare]

This is Thailand...

Does anyone really believe that if the rice is sold, that farmers will get paid?

Yes they will be but they wont be getting the 15.000baht per ton as promised. Not even the ~12.000baht per ton that the millers normally pay if they sold it like they usually have done.

[fab4]

good to see this is continuing as the farmers need to be paid

I noticed on another thread this morning that the farmers (according to the story which I don't believe) are now blaming the Democrat party as the reason they are not being paid

Seems to me there is now a media blitz taking place by PTP throwing around lies aimed at confusing people - the source of any news story needs to taken into consideration before trusting it's contents

What, this one, from The Nation, the choice of news outlet for Thai Visa Forum, and you don't believe it's true? Shame on you, smedly.

Hardly PTP friendly media, is it?

Meanwhile, farmers from Ayutthaya province rallied at Democrat headquarters demanding that the party participate in the next election.

They said there were suffering as there was nobody in charge to approve funding for the rice-pledging scheme.

-- The Nation 2014-05-09

[Old Man River]

" But Thai Rice Exporters Association president Chukiat Opaswong said a caretaker government has no authority to develop policies to remedy the current situation. "

No, but that won't stop them. They can't elected a prime minster from anything other than from a quorum-filled parliament, or from the Senate in the event of a quorum-less parliament - but they claim to have done just that. Why ? Because they said so, that's why. They've selected a prime minister from half a caretaker cabinet, even though there is no provision in the constitution to do so. But that won't stop them. Chalerm has been removed, but he's not going anywhere. Surapong's been removed, and not only is he not budging, he's planning his next ministerial function. So yes, this crazy, crazy administration - that is directed from someone they now call a prime minister, from half a caretaker cabinet, with no legislative power, no parliament, and no public mandate - they're going on despite what anyone thinks. Problem is, they can't actually do anything.

Given what you have written, it almost sounds like you are saying this is an attempted coup.

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[a99az]

The start of grab what you can during the confusion. Just like the looters during a demo.

[iliailiailiailia]

Agreements with governement of Kingdom Thailand ! = Photos

[hawker9000]

good to see this is continuing as the farmers need to be paid

I noticed on another thread this morning that the farmers (according to the story which I don't believe) are now blaming the Democrat party as the reason they are not being paid

Seems to me there is now a media blitz taking place by PTP throwing around lies aimed at confusing people - the source of any news story needs to taken into consideration before trusting it's contents

Were the story true, it would be an indicator that those who supported PTP with their votes before and are now suffering as a result of the rice scam, have learned nothing from all this. And that would be very sad for Thailand, and condemn it to repeat the PTP-imposed debacle. I have to believe that no one could possibly be that ignorant and easily duped.

[rubl]

good to see this is continuing as the farmers need to be paid

I noticed on another thread this morning that the farmers (according to the story which I don't believe) are now blaming the Democrat party as the reason they are not being paid

Seems to me there is now a media blitz taking place by PTP throwing around lies aimed at confusing people - the source of any news story needs to taken into consideration before trusting it's contents

What, this one, from The Nation, the choice of news outlet for Thai Visa Forum, and you don't believe it's true? Shame on you, smedly.

Hardly PTP friendly media, is it?

Meanwhile, farmers from Ayutthaya province rallied at Democrat headquarters demanding that the party participate in the next election.

They said there were suffering as there was nobody in charge to approve funding for the rice-pledging scheme.

-- The Nation 2014-05-09

Two issues there.

For one with 880 billion spent in two and a half years and a gap of 700++ left after selling all rice it's unlikely that any new government will do such a generous RPPS again.

Secondly the problems with paying farmers now stems from the decision of the Yingluck government to keep the RPPS out of the National Budget and into a revolving funds of 500 billion the BAAC had to set aside. I guess the Yingluck government thought they could keep this up forever.

Conclusion with some luck all outstanding bills will be paid from the sales of the rice mountain and even the 20 billion Baht borrowed from the Emergence Funds may be returned by the end of this month. Of course that leaves the BAAC with a 700++ billion Baht deficit guaranteed by the (Yingluck) government. Let a criminal case start and the negligent parties to be personally responsible for the losses. Just like they sentenced the chap who depleted the foreign reserves in defending the Baht in 1997.

[belg]

who would have tought that scam rice would now be sold at a loss ? the thai experts ? nooooooooooooooooooooooo

[marko kok prong]

Not good for me as i have investments in some rice farms,so i guess my returns will be down this year,the whole thing has been an unmitigated disaster,so now the people who sell privately to millers can expect a lower price this year,how much is still stockpiled i remember it being about 20 million tons,some of it from like 3 years ago,well half of that must be ratsh*t by now.

[rebelplatoon]

The words 'hope' and 'believe' being key words for a trade department are frightening.

FARMERS UNITE! THE ONLY GOVERNMENT MONEY YOU NEED IS TO HAVE YOUR OWN WAREHOUSES. MAKE YOUR OWN BRAND OF RICE. BE IN CHARGE OF THE PRICES. MARKET YOUR OWN PRODUCE THROUGH YOUR OWN CO OPERATIVES. CUT OUT THE (CHINESE THAI) MIDDLE MAN. MAKE YOUR OWN PROFITS.

If you look at rice prices in stores its gone up incredibly. Farmers can make a much better profit. I hope they do.

[The Deerhunter]

good to see this is continuing as the farmers need to be paid

I noticed on another thread this morning that the farmers (according to the story which I don't believe) are now blaming the Democrat party as the reason they are not being paid

Seems to me there is now a media blitz taking place by PTP throwing around lies aimed at confusing people - the source of any news story needs to taken into consideration before trusting it's contents

What, this one, from The Nation, the choice of news outlet for Thai Visa Forum, and you don't believe it's true? Shame on you, smedly.

Hardly PTP friendly media, is it?

Meanwhile, farmers from Ayutthaya province rallied at Democrat headquarters demanding that the party participate in the next election.

They said there were suffering as there was nobody in charge to approve funding for the rice-pledging scheme.

-- The Nation 2014-05-09

If true, very sad that they still believe (probably out of desperation) against all evidence to the contrary, that the rice scheme will save them from the price collapse caused by the rice scheme.

Edited May 9, 2014 by The Deerhunter

[phanangpete]

Its quite simple, the first round of corruption running, into billions of baht has all been filtered away ,so they want a quick sale to fill the coffers again .

The farmers are going to go ballistic again soon and with no money left to pay them 'big trouble' in Bkk.

Has anyone been arrested over the abuse of funds.

Sorry to say it it, but the farmers are truly thick.

[scorecard]

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good to see this is continuing as the farmers need to be paid

I noticed on another thread this morning that the farmers (according to the story which I don't believe) are now blaming the Democrat party as the reason they are not being paid

Seems to me there is now a media blitz taking place by PTP throwing around lies aimed at confusing people - the source of any news story needs to taken into consideration before trusting it's contents

What, this one, from The Nation, the choice of news outlet for Thai Visa Forum, and you don't believe it's true? Shame on you, smedly.

Hardly PTP friendly media, is it?

Meanwhile, farmers from Ayutthaya province rallied at Democrat headquarters demanding that the party participate in the next election.

They said there were suffering as there was nobody in charge to approve funding for the rice-pledging scheme.


-- The Nation 2014-05-09

so fab4, with all your inside knowledge, just why are the dems now being blamed for the farmers not being paid?