Ministry race to pay Thai rice farmers

[Dogmatix]

The main objectives of the rice pledging scheme were:

1. To promote an "instant gratification" scheme to poorly educated voters that appeared head and shoulders above the Dems scheme to buy their votes with taxpayers' money.

2. To facilitate speculation by trying to corner the global rice market and create massive profits for Thaksin and cronies. This could only be done if the govt owned the rice stocks, not by paying subsidies. This was to be the jackpot.

3. To facilitate corruption at all levels to benefit PT and coalition politicians, rice millers and other middle men with PT affiliations. These scams, the most egregious of which was the fake sale of rice to China were not dependent on raising the global rice price. They worked with any global rice price but the taxpayer took a bigger hit, the lower the global rice price was.

4. To facilitate the illegal of pledging of rice from neighbouring countries.

5. To give very short term and unsustainable benefits to farmers in the form of above market prices for rice, regardless of quality, at the expense of degrading the quality and competitiveness of Thai rice longer-term.

It is pretty obvious that the scheme has generally been a resounding success, even if it failed to achieve the jackpot in point 2. It is also clear that generally raising the living standards of Thai farmers was not a priority at all.

[3NUMBAS]

they wont be planting more without funds coming in

[rubl]

The main objectives of the rice pledging scheme were:

1. To promote an "instant gratification" scheme to poorly educated voters that appeared head and shoulders above the Dems scheme to buy their votes with taxpayers' money.

2. To facilitate speculation by trying to corner the global rice market and create massive profits for Thaksin and cronies. This could only be done if the govt owned the rice stocks, not by paying subsidies. This was to be the jackpot.

3. To facilitate corruption at all levels to benefit PT and coalition politicians, rice millers and other middle men with PT affiliations. These scams, the most egregious of which was the fake sale of rice to China were not dependent on raising the global rice price. They worked with any global rice price but the taxpayer took a bigger hit, the lower the global rice price was.

4. To facilitate the illegal of pledging of rice from neighbouring countries.

5. To give very short term and unsustainable benefits to farmers in the form of above market prices for rice, regardless of quality, at the expense of degrading the quality and competitiveness of Thai rice longer-term.

It is pretty obvious that the scheme has generally been a resounding success, even if it failed to achieve the jackpot in point 2. It is also clear that generally raising the living standards of Thai farmers was not a priority at all.

No, no, no. The objectives of Ms. Yinglucks government were pure and therefor we had under the "to be implemented the first year":

"1.11 Raise the price of agricultural products and enable farmers to gain access to sources of investment by ensuring that prices of agricultural products remain reasonably stable, reflecting global market price mechanisms, by utilizing marketing management and futures markets. Support farmers to sell their products at reasonably high prices compared to their costs. Implement a crop insurance scheme in order to provide income security for farmers, beginning with long grain rice and fragrant Hom Mali rice with moisture not exceeding 15% at 15,000 Baht and 20,000 Baht per cart, respectively. Provide remedies to farmers whose crops are damaged by natural disasters. Establish a registration system for farmer households and issue credit cards for farmers."

[Mudcrab]

Farmers "credit cards" = loan sharks

[Scamper]

" The Constitutional Court and the National Anti-Corruption Commission insist on the remaining 26 Cabinet ministers' full authority for administration. "

No, they have not ! This is beyond comic. The Constitutional Court and the National Anti-Corruption Commission have not - repeat not - " insisted " on the partial cabinet's " full authority for administration " or anything, for that matter. The Constitutional Court and the National Anti-Corruption Commission have not changed electoral caretaker law. They have not made any such ruling - ever. This is fiction. Pure and simple. Here we go again - Pheu Thai is back to the fantasy that the dissolution of parliament was actually just a dream. It didn't happen, you see. They have full legislative power. They can go out and just release more and more monies and make more loans to banks, just like they used to. The BAAC is already back in the discussion ( likely not at their own behest, though ). And the EC and the permission that has to be received from them at every stage during this perpetual caretaker period ? Not a peep about them. Not one peep. The nerve of this is breath-taking. Pheu Thai is barreling towards another constitutional crisis. And they are doing it with the most unctuous smiles on their faces imaginable.