Thai rice growers turn to side jobs for income while waiting for their money

[webfact]

Rice growers turn to side jobs for income while waiting for their money

BANGKOK, 16 May 2014 (NNT) – A survey conducted by the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) has revealed that 30.7% of rice growers have turned to side jobs for income as they wait for payment owed them under the rice pledging scheme.

According to Lak Watchananwat, the Managing Director of the BAAC, the survey has indicated that 28.5% of rice growers have taken out loans to pay for their daily expenses, 21.9% have to on their savings, 8.8% have been using their farmers' credit cards and 5.8% have been getting money from other sources.

For the money required in maintaining their paddies, 65.7% of the respondents indicated they were sourcing the money from their farmers' credit cards. 59.1% said they were borrowing from various sources. 28.% said they were using their savings, and 16.1% said they were working side jobs to pay for their paddies. 12.4% indicated getting money from other sources.

Mr. Lak disclosed that the government still owed approximately 82 billion baht to around 720,000 rice growers participating in the rice pledging scheme. He expects all the farmers to be paid by December or January, at the latest.


-- NNT 2014-05-16

[aussieinthailand]

really,

ok well all the Thai rice farmers I know have always had "side line jobs" so just what is this story is supposed to be about?

[NeverSure]

really,

ok well all the Thai rice farmers I know have always had "side line jobs" so just what is this story is supposed to be about?

That many of the farmers are borrowing money from "other sources" and that they expect to be paid next week month January or February Never.

[anon467848]

720,000 rice farmers still to be paid!,,,, Cant understand why they never followed through with their threat to block all the airports and major roads. It sure would get everybodies attention as the farmers keep getting their payments postponed. Some of these poor farmers have probably turned to money lenders and will no doubt lose their farms.... a very sad state of affairs caused by yet another failed populist policy, bloody joke...

Edited May 16, 2014 by merlin2002

[Bocking]

A meaningless survey designed to keep a meaningful problem in the spotlight. While politicians scurry around worrying about their own futures, those who elected them seem once again to have been forgotten.

[chainarong]

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720,000 rice farmers still to be paid!,,,, Cant understand why they never followed through with their threat to block all the airports and major roads. It sure would get everybodies attention as the farmers keep getting their payments postponed. Some of these poor farmers have probably turned to money lenders and will no doubt lose their farms.... a very sad state of affairs caused by yet another failed populist policy, bloody joke...

To protest for a period of time you need finance and recourses , rice farmers are not flush will Thai BHT the PTP seen to that, not like some others are, so their in-put is limited.

[NongKhaiKid]

BUT the govt is rushing to find the money to pay them !

[bigbamboo]

I suppose they could become caretakers. That seems to be a growth industry just now.

[Canada]

This country should be embarrassed about this situation. The people who could least afford it and have the least ability to protect themselves, just got shafted by the government. Bloody shameless, the masters of this scam, and the rest who could have done something about it and then those that can still do something about it. This isn't about money (which most think it is) this is about ruining peoples lives, welfare and well being, by the "privilege class" and nobody doing anything about it.

The politicians in this country are the worst bunch of thieving, crying, lying children I have ever run across. Their parents should be slapped. Clambering, scratching, biting and clawing for more.....frickin pathetic.

[billd766]

really,

ok well all the Thai rice farmers I know have always had "side line jobs" so just what is this story is supposed to be about?

The point of it is simple.

720,000 rice farmers have NOT BEEN PAID since before September last year.

They are owed about 82 Bn baht by the incompetent caretaker goverment who are too busy scurrying around like rats deserting a sinking ship to care about the people who put them in power.

And you want the PTP to be back in power again? They cannot even explain where 800 Bn baht went missing let alone finding a measly 10% of that to pay the farmers.

[Canada]

really,

ok well all the Thai rice farmers I know have always had "side line jobs" so just what is this story is supposed to be about?

The point of it is simple.

720,000 rice farmers have NOT BEEN PAID since before September last year.

They are owed about 82 Bn baht by the incompetent caretaker goverment who are too busy scurrying around like rats deserting a sinking ship to care about the people who put them in power.

And you want the PTP to be back in power again? They cannot even explain where 800 Bn baht went missing let alone finding a measly 10% of that to pay the farmers.

That point is relatively easy to see. The one that is harder and that most people miss is that the system is flawed; here and everywhere else that we vote for the next idiot. "Here" is a more extreme example of the flaw. I only ever voted once in my life when I turned 18. SInce then I have never seen the logic in it. All you do is pick who pisses on you, but you get pissed on nonetheless.

[Thai at Heart]

Only 30%?

I thought about 75% of rice farmers had off season jobs. Is this a story?

[monkeycountry]

For the past couple of years, pretty much every economist in the world has told Thailand, and the leaders of the farmers that the rice scam was not sustainable, and that financial trouble would follow. The government did try a few times last year to scale down or stop the rice pledging scam for future crops. Each time these farmers went to the streets and forced the government to continue the scam. The farmers and their leaders did not care what problems the scam would cause for anyone, including themselves.

I now care as much about the farmer's problems, as they seemed to care about the tax payers (me) and everyone else back then.

In any case, has the scam finally been stopped for future crops, or are the farmers still pledging rice?

[gabruce]

A meaningless survey designed to keep a meaningful problem in the spotlight. While politicians scurry around worrying about their own futures, those who elected them seem once again to have been forgotten.

Good job then. It's very important to keep the rice farmers and their plight in the forefront as much as possible.

It's a shame that the government did this to the country and to the farmers.

[SOTIRIOS]

.......how sad.....

[winstonc]

really,

ok well all the Thai rice farmers I know have always had "side line jobs" so just what is this story is supposed to be about?

The point of it is simple.

720,000 rice farmers have NOT BEEN PAID since before September last year.

They are owed about 82 Bn baht by the incompetent caretaker goverment who are too busy scurrying around like rats deserting a sinking ship to care about the people who put them in power.

And you want the PTP to be back in power again? They cannot even explain where 800 Bn baht went missing let alone finding a measly 10% of that to pay the farmers.

That point is relatively easy to see. The one that is harder and that most people miss is that the system is flawed; here and everywhere else that we vote for the next idiot. "Here" is a more extreme example of the flaw. I only ever voted once in my life when I turned 18. SInce then I have never seen the logic in it. All you do is pick who pisses on you, but you get pissed on nonetheless.

you voted once in your life and you think you have a right to moan..many people around the world dont have that luxury..you abuse yours and rant on about it...how ironic.

[mikemac]

Cannot believe how insensitive and downright stupid some people are.

So it's ok to be screwed over by the thieves who you voted into power, because you have a job on the side as a backup. Moronic logic at it;s best.

[rubl]

really,

ok well all the Thai rice farmers I know have always had "side line jobs" so just what is this story is supposed to be about?

The need to borrow because the Yingluck government didn't have the money properly budgetted to pay those farmers. Credit is nice, but money need to be repaid with interest. Who will refund that to farmers?

BTW begin of this year we were told mid-January at the latest would all farmers be paid. Neither the then Minister of Finance, nor the Commerce guy mentioned they meant 2015 instead of 2014.

[issanaus]

"In Thailand, as in much of the developing world, rapid declines in mortality and fertility are now leading

to rapid population ageing increases in the proportion of older people in the population. Agriculture

now has the oldest workforce of any economic sector in Thailand, and further ageing is expected.

Some commentators have suggested that older farmers are less likely to mechanize, adopt new

crops, and apply new technologies." http://www.fao.org/sd/dim_pe3/docs/pe3_051001d1_en.pdf

In other words the people who are most effected by the fallout from the rice pledging scheme are generally old, had less educational opportunities and are most likely to fall into poverty.

BTW, interesting paper to read.

[Canada]

really,

ok well all the Thai rice farmers I know have always had "side line jobs" so just what is this story is supposed to be about?

The point of it is simple.

720,000 rice farmers have NOT BEEN PAID since before September last year.

They are owed about 82 Bn baht by the incompetent caretaker goverment who are too busy scurrying around like rats deserting a sinking ship to care about the people who put them in power.

And you want the PTP to be back in power again? They cannot even explain where 800 Bn baht went missing let alone finding a measly 10% of that to pay the farmers.

That point is relatively easy to see. The one that is harder and that most people miss is that the system is flawed; here and everywhere else that we vote for the next idiot. "Here" is a more extreme example of the flaw. I only ever voted once in my life when I turned 18. SInce then I have never seen the logic in it. All you do is pick who pisses on you, but you get pissed on nonetheless.

you voted once in your life and you think you have a right to moan..many people around the world dont have that luxury..you abuse yours and rant on about it...how ironic.

You go ahead and keep voting. See what comes of it. You are probably a fan of the war on drugs too aren't you?

Hardly a rant, just a simple statement.

[richard10365]

All Thai rice farmers have 4 or 5 other sources of income. Fruit trees, growing garlic, growing mushrooms, raising fish or frogs, etc. This is common.

[Benmart]

That point is relatively easy to see. The one that is harder and that most people miss is that the system is flawed; here and everywhere else that we vote for the next idiot. "Here" is a more extreme example of the flaw. I only ever voted once in my life when I turned 18. SInce then I have never seen the logic in it. All you do is pick who pisses on you, but you get pissed on nonetheless.

A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.

― Edward R. Murrow

[Canada]

All Thai rice farmers have 4 or 5 other sources of income. Fruit trees, growing garlic, growing mushrooms, raising fish or frogs, etc. This is common.

You're right. It's very common and absolutely necessary in our area. Nobody around here has enough land to live off the earnings of it, regardless of the crop. That they didn't get paid means that their "bonus" didn't come through. All of the farmers that I know work all year round for living and the farm income is what they call their savings. It's what they use to build the walls finally on the first floor of their house, or put new wood siding on the second floor this year, or extend the roof, or rebuild the iron buffalo....

[Benmart]

All Thai rice farmers have 4 or 5 other sources of income. Fruit trees, growing garlic, growing mushrooms, raising fish or frogs, etc. This is common.

I've not met all Thai farmers. If this is accurate, it's a very wise practice.

[Canada]

That point is relatively easy to see. The one that is harder and that most people miss is that the system is flawed; here and everywhere else that we vote for the next idiot. "Here" is a more extreme example of the flaw. I only ever voted once in my life when I turned 18. SInce then I have never seen the logic in it. All you do is pick who pisses on you, but you get pissed on nonetheless.

A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.

― Edward R. Murrow

What I don't get is why people don't get it.

[issanaus]

All Thai rice farmers have 4 or 5 other sources of income. Fruit trees, growing garlic, growing mushrooms, raising fish or frogs, etc. This is common.

I've not met all Thai farmers. If this is accurate, it's a very wise practice.

I have not met ALL either, but I do know enough to know that for some rice is the major source of income or would be if they had been paid.

[Thaifever]

It's uncanny how some of the most important jobs (bus drivers, child care workers, farmers, etc) are underpaid, and the least important jobs (government employees) are over. Take care of your communities Thailand.

[lucjoker]

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

720,000 rice farmers still to be paid!,,,, Cant understand why they never followed through with their threat to block all the airports and major roads. It sure would get everybodies attention as the farmers keep getting their payments postponed. Some of these poor farmers have probably turned to money lenders and will no doubt lose their farms.... a very sad state of affairs caused by yet another failed populist policy, bloody joke...

To protest for a period of time you need finance and recourses , rice farmers are not flush will Thai BHT the PTP seen to that, not like some others are, so their in-put is limited.

Not if you bring your axes and first plunder and than burn the houses of the guilty people , this doesn't take more then a few days .

But this is too logic?

Is it not allowed to take on the thieves? Well the go stealing yourself .

[belg]

good times for the loansharks

[american12bthai]

720,000 rice farmers still to be paid!,,,, Cant understand why they never followed through with their threat to block all the airports and major roads. It sure would get everybodies attention as the farmers keep getting their payments postponed. Some of these poor farmers have probably turned to money lenders and will no doubt lose their farms.... a very sad state of affairs caused by yet another failed populist policy, bloody joke...

red shirts have threatened them with life if they did anything against the gov.