Thai rice farmers rejoice after junta head orders immediate cash payment

[sirineou]

How strange that in less than a week the Army can pay the farmers but the PTP exgovernment couldn't manage to do the same thing in more than 9 MONTHS.

what is so strange?

The PTP did not have dictatorial powers

and 29 others gave you a "Like" for your post?

Exactly just what i wrote. some people are so naive.

i as going to use a stronger and more appropriate word, but let's be charitable and call them "naive"

[Equalizer]

And finally they are paid. If there is one good thing has come from this coup it is this.

Some might say they will waste it on beer and at karaoke bars, but I say at least they have the option now to do that. Before they didn't.

Well done General Prayuth. You truly are swift, decisive and have the peoples wellbeing in the forefront of your thoughts. Something I have sorely missed for over 3 years from the leaders of Thailand. At last the people are being respected.

With the respect shown by the General one be be assured he would have picked the "Peoples Bill" that everyone agreed on over the deformed cousin of the "Worachai Bill" that only thaksin wanted had the General been in yingluck's position.

He has shown more respect for the Thai people in 5 days than the PTP have in 3 years.

Christ all mighty what a naive person. Unbelievable, simply unbelievable, head up the passage springs to mind.

[MAJIC]

How strange that in less than a week the Army can pay the farmers but the PTP exgovernment couldn't manage to do the same thing in more than 9 MONTHS.

The only thing that is strange,is that the Farmers money was meant to go in A different direction!

Well done the Army!

Edited May 26, 2014 by MAJIC

[Smokemachine]

The farmers and the north will never forgive the people who took away their right to vote and their democratically elected governments over the past 10 years!

I'm glad to see the farmers paid albeit by default but anyone who thinks that the reds are a spent force are living in a fools paradise!

The next election will prove me right

Watch this space!

No need to watch this space.

I think you are in the outer space.

[nidieunimaitre]

This tread is so futile, I feel like I have walked into a sketch:

And to think that we are holidaying in Europe right now.

You wouldn't believe the thai related information that is available on the internet in the free world.

We are off for pizza now.

CIAO.

[MAJIC]

Lets see the Dems try to block this one. The rats will have no hope, Every time Yingluck had the loan promised the Dems and Suthep made sure that anybody giving a loan to the govt would suffer drastically. Now the DEMs are a toothess tiger and the loans will go through.

According to the Army they do not need loans to pay the Farmers,they have 40 Billion in the Bank! so I don't know why you think the Dems and Suthep were blocking payment to the Farmers? more propaganda?

[englishoak]

Lets see the Dems try to block this one. The rats will have no hope, Every time Yingluck had the loan promised the Dems and Suthep made sure that anybody giving a loan to the govt would suffer drastically. Now the DEMs are a toothess tiger and the loans will go through.

According to the Army they do not need loans to pay the Farmers,they have 40 Billion in the Bank! so I don't know why you think the Dems and Suthep were blocking payment to the Farmers? more propaganda?

Lets be honest here, there is nothing that can stand in the way of whatever the Junta wishes to allocate funding to, no permission needed, no gov bodies moaning or blocking and no protests stopping it, unlike previously where there was chaos and blocking of funds to do exactly the same.

Its amazing what you can get done when you suspend the constitution and dissolve all groups and power that could get in your way.

Fact is they can do what they like with no interference ... great for the farmers who are way overdue payment but hardly difficult when you have no one to answer to.

[pmugghc]

Have the IMF and the world bank changed their opinions recently? Have they declared that paying out, is OK now?

What has changed in the "purely financial" arguments of the banks? It is safe now, why will the banks not loose their solvability now ?

As for the anti election commission, don't bother to explain their turnaround.

I am not talking about "recently" or even "now". I am talking about before. Check the dates. I even added links!

Farmers have been paid.

Do you have an issue with that?

Contrarily to certain others, I have NO ISSUE with the farmers being paid, and paid well.

However, I DO HAVE AN ISSUE with some people delaying the payment for so long, and now pretending that they come to the rescue of the farmers.

Provide details, which people, when?

[bristolgeoff]

_{9 mths of waiting for a payment from yinglick.sorted in a few days by the general.the king give his blessing,long may he reign.yinglick and takism have a lot to answer for}

[chachmarach]

PTP led government did not delay paying the rice farmers. It was EC who tried to bargain with the government - delay election or no payment, and the dem and its pdrc blocking the payments. Threatened banks not to cooperate with the government to pay rice farmers. According to this report, they have been enough funds to pay them and other avenues that funds were available.

You might want to check your calendar .. August arrived a few months before January, same every year .. PDRC did not exist until long after the rice payments first became due. Yingluck and PTP didn not 'FAIL' to pay the farmers, they decided 'NOT TO PAY' the farmers and were confident that their 'redistribution' of funds would be covered by the Amnesty Bill.

Thumbs up to Prayuth, a man with balls and brains, a man who could quickly become the most popular PM in the democratic history of Thailand

... also, never a single word at the red stages to support the farmers not paid. It never was their real agenda. Instead these farmers were intimitated by the leaders of the reds.

In between now, the election for the European parlament got a setback for the corporate globalists too. Conservatives and right wings gained like never before. Their goal is to reduce the corporate globalists to rubbles and to reduce the Euro Parlament's power. Amsterdam will have fewer roads to travel, hahahaha ...

It's not against globalization per se but the enforcing corporate globalist elites with sinister further plans for the globe. Natural globalization is alright ...

Coming back to the rice scheme/scam it is save to say that this was staged by the corporate globalists so to slowely create social unrest after the political unrest and then followed by civil war so that they can get more power and control by sneaking in the back doors.

The awakening is global and not just here in Thaiand.

People are awake but the trouble is that we have a huge capacity for denial. If you think about the Arab Spring and the poor vegetable seller that was so humiliated by the corrupt authorities that he burnt himself to death, one can see how desperate you need to be before something clicks within you and you realise what an unjust system you live in. Shame can hold one back because we don't think were doing as well as we think we should, and shame also keeps our heads well below the parapets. I think it was reported here on Thaivisa that at least one rice farmer committed suicide.

To me Thailand should be a wakeup call. If you have an apathetic, passive, society that lets politicians, bankers, elites get away with things you'll end up with politicians, bankers and elites who will be more than willing to oblige. In New Zealand, and practically all the west, real incomes have been going down since the late fifties. In the UK, the 10 wealthiest families have as much as the entire bottom 20% of the country.

Inequality is growing world wide and will continue to do so until the general populace do something about it.

I agree with your assessment Teddy, unfortunately the old divide and concur tricks that TPTB have used for hundreds of years are still working today. The mainstream media is a propaganda machine that spews forth lies and rhetoric that conditions the populace into blaming each other, all while the upper echelon of society reap the benefits.

You watch... the PR machine is going to ramp up the war mongering and TPTB will use agent provocateurs to try to destabilize this country and the world into fighting another world war. I think USMC General Smedley Butler said it best when he said "War is a racket" here: http://www.warisaracket.com/

I love the fact that Thais have given the finger to the global establishment and were not content to sit around passively waiting to be raped by TS and his cronies. I have uber respect for this country and its people, especially the General running the show right now! I think Thailand IS the wakeup call and it's made the establishment very scared, because at the end of the day, Thais love their fellow countrymen and are led by their wonderful King, whom I have enormous respect for.

In the West, people are placated by the latest bunk coming out of their living room TV's whilst getting fat off of processed food that's giving them diabetes, heart disease and a multitude of other ailments. But don't worry, the big-pharm will be there to supply you with a pill that will help "manage" whatever damage is done by the food supplied by big-agriculture. You reap what you sow... or better yet som num na bitches!

[NeilSA1]

Farmers will be pleased to be paid. It's great. However, they will not forget that it was the old guard who blocked the payment in the first place.Nothing to do with the policy itself , just pure bloody-mindedness by Sutphep and the cronies.

Please look at yesterdays articles again. I imagine you did read them, but I will provide a quote for your convenience -

"BAAC president Luck Wajananawat said as the Constitution has been suspended, the bank could disburse from its reserves and the farmers' fund to pay farmers at the earliest following orders from the National Council for Peace and Order."

[Trembly]

PTP led government did not delay paying the rice farmers. It was EC who tried to bargain with the government - delay election or no payment, and the dem and its pdrc blocking the payments. Threatened banks not to cooperate with the government to pay rice farmers. According to this report, they have been enough funds to pay them and other avenues that funds were available.

So why weren't they paid in the months preceding the protests?

[Trembly]

Farmers will be pleased to be paid. It's great. However, they will not forget that it was the old guard who blocked the payment in the first place.Nothing to do with the policy itself , just pure bloody-mindedness by Sutphep and the cronies.

Who blocked payments before the protests?

[Bluespunk]

So it is banks that held back the loans because of Suthep shenanigans resulting in the farmers not being paid. Guess the previous government has been vindicated.

Wrong again. The farmers were not being paid long before any anti PT protests began. The farmers were not paid because the rice scheme utterly failed. That was down to PT and no one else.

[NeilSA1]

Have the IMF and the world bank changed their opinions recently? Have they declared that paying out, is OK now?

What has changed in the "purely financial" arguments of the banks? It is safe now, why will the banks not loose their solvability now ?

As for the anti election commission, don't bother to explain their turnaround.

People like to post but obviously do not read, or else cannot remember an article from the day before.

"BAAC president Luck Wajananawat said as the Constitution has been suspended, the bank could disburse from its reserves and the farmers' fund to pay farmers at the earliest following orders from the National Council for Peace and Order."

[KOZMO]

How strange that in less than a week the Army can pay the farmers but the PTP exgovernment couldn't manage to do the same thing in more than 9 MONTHS.

How you going to pay the rice farmers if the money is in your pocket?????? !!!!!!!!!!

[wealth]

This must be the song the General liked best when he was younger. It was very popular in Thailand that time. TAKE A PIECE WITH YOU EVERYONE!

[fish fingers]

Rice farmers lack of payments had zero to do with the protests. Also the warehouse owners were owed money way before the protests too. Yingluck/Thaksin lost thailand it's rice industry on an ill conceived gamble.

I think the current figure for rice industry revenue losses stands at 800 million baht, not including future losses.

[paymaster]

Gonna be hard now for the hardcore red-shirt fanatics to mount a serious challenge now to the general - He's just put money in the pockets of those who have traditionally been UDD / PTP supporters and dug some of them out of a financial hole. That will certainly raise his and the army's popularity at a grass roots level.

I doubt very much that they are going to go against him, especially as PTP left them balancing on the abyss for a long time with empty promises.

Nice bit of populism it would appear?

I really like this post but would suggest that the populism was the ruse of ptp who then reneged on peyment. I would refer to the current peyments as as " nice bit of justice it would appear".

[webfact]

RICE-PLEDGING SCHEME
Rice farmers overjoyed as payments begin
The Nation

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/729396-thai-rice-pledging-scheme-farmers-overjoyed-as-payments-begin/

[GeorgeO]

Lets see the Dems try to block this one. The rats will have no hope, Every time Yingluck had the loan promised the Dems and Suthep made sure that anybody giving a loan to the govt would suffer drastically. Now the DEMs are a toothess tiger and the loans will go through.

Any proof to go with this bold statement? Like real proof?

It's certainly true that the Democrats don't have a great record when it comes to the farmers' money. The brother of the last democrat to be elected PM stole 10 million USD from Thai Farmers Bank and fled to Taiwan, only returning 20 years later when the statute of limitations had expired.

So a dishonest Democrat administration skimmed off US$10 million and felt that they needed to go and live in Taiwan for 20 years. What then do you suggest should be the fate of the most dishonest government ever, the Thaksin-led PTP, for the 'disappearance' of US$30 billion...?!

[GeorgeO]

Rice farmers lack of payments had zero to do with the protests. Also the warehouse owners were owed money way before the protests too. Yingluck/Thaksin lost thailand it's rice industry on an ill conceived gamble.

I think the current figure for rice industry revenue losses stands at 800 million baht, not including future losses.

... I think that's billion, isn't it...?!

[kamahele]

Well this is a bit of good news out of all this

[Discombobulated]

The army did a lot of homework during the months.

Bangkokpost reports that 2 red militants, for carrying out the drive by shooting where two 5 year old children died, were arrested. The sad aspect to it: One ranger killed by a third suspect and escaped.

All done by army intelligence.

Another cheering for the army now.

Ditto!

Edited May 27, 2014 by Discombobulated

[rubl]

My understanding is that when they had caretaker status, they were not able to borrow money as the government of Thailand. The army, however, can simply order banks to provide the loans necessary for the payments.

The Thai Military Bank won't get such orders.

Since you phrase your reply as a statement, could you please explain what you mean here?

. Probably just meant that the military bank won't be asked to contribute funds to help pay the farmers. That's all.

That answer only leads to more questions.

To shortcut this meaningless discussion: Thai Military Bank was started by the military. Things changed after 1997. Many banks went under, merged into state banks like KTB or get foreign partners. At the moment the stake of the military in TMB is less than 2% I think (check SET info on this).

So, if commercial banks are asked to contribute TMB would be one of those banks asked.

Edited May 27, 2014 by rubl

[rubl]

So, now that the farmers get their money, they can produce even more rice for the next rice pledging scheme.

With even more corruption and filling the mill's with rice from Cambodia and Myanmar.

Well done .......................... NOT

You assume the RPPS will continue in it's old form. That would seem unlikely as even a rich country like Thailand cannot afford to lose a few hundred billion every year.

[SICHONSTEVE]

Have the IMF and the world bank changed their opinions recently? Have they declared that paying out, is OK now?

What has changed in the "purely financial" arguments of the banks? It is safe now, why will the banks not loose their solvability now ?

As for the anti election commission, don't bother to explain their turnaround.

I am not talking about "recently" or even "now". I am talking about before. Check the dates. I even added links!

Farmers have been paid.

Do you have an issue with that?

I wouldn't waste your time on them Jamie, I have come to the simple conclusion that they have extreme difficulties assembling facts!!!

They are like parrots on auto control - they have been fed with BS, lapped it all up and it has clogged their brains so they are unable to take in any more information!!

Only the stuttering one will admit to this, all of the others are completely oblivious, poor souls!!

[Discombobulated]

PTP led government did not delay paying the rice farmers. It was EC who tried to bargain with the government - delay election or no payment, and the dem and its pdrc blocking the payments. Threatened banks not to cooperate with the government to pay rice farmers. According to this report, they have been enough funds to pay them and other avenues that funds were available.

I never, ever, ever, ever get sick of reminding people why the rice payments were delayed.

13th of September 2013 - The cabinet approved a total budget of 270 billion baht for the government’s rice pledging scheme, Deputy Commerce Minister Yanyong Puangraj. They said they had the money. They said this budget would suffice until February, 2014. They lied.

16th of September - THE FINANCE MINISTRY’s sub-committee assessing the cost of the rice pledging scheme fears the scheme will break budget. The PTP were warned.

8th of October - The World Bank said that the rice pledging scheme had proven to be the most costly and would ring up a bill of 115 billion to 150 billion baht per harvest. The reply - Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Niwatthamrong Bunsongphaisan today categorically dismissed the World Bank’s estimate that the Thai government will incur up to 400 billion baht in losses from the rice pledging scheme for two harvests. He went on to say the Finance Ministry should help secure more funding to meet the 270 billion baht target already approved by the cabinet to be used for the 2013-14 harvests. They said they had the money. They lied.

12th November 2013 - IMF called on Thailand to ditch rice support scheme. The PTP said no. The PTP were warned.

9th of Decmeber 2013 - House dissolved.

You can see fault with the EC for following the rule of law and the banks because they do not want to solicit loans because of legality concerns and irrespective of whether Suthep threatened the banks or not is inconsequential because the banks still didn't want to undermine the confidence of their investors. Banks where justified too. Remember the GSB loan and the damage it did to their reputation and finical stability? Smart move by the banks. You however cannot see fault with the PTP after they were warned 3 times in the 3 months leading up to dissolution that they would run out of money. They told the public numerous times they did have the money for the season up to February, 2014 which was a lie. And the cherry on the cake is the Deputy PM denouncing the World Bank, demanding to know where they got the figures while saying they were wrong and the PTP were right.

Guess what…..The PTP were wrong!

Excellent post! Now we have some facts instead of vitriolic blather!

Edited May 27, 2014 by Discombobulated

[rubl]

Lets see the Dems try to block this one. The rats will have no hope, Every time Yingluck had the loan promised the Dems and Suthep made sure that anybody giving a loan to the govt would suffer drastically. Now the DEMs are a toothess tiger and the loans will go through.

May be you should stick to sailing, my dear chap.

The caretaker government didn't manage to find and/or secure loans. They simply hadn't been fiscally prudent. No reserves in the National Budget, only an extra parliamentary revolving funds which spinned out of control to grow from 500 billion to a maximum of 700++ billion with 130 billion more needed. The caretaker government could not accept financial obligation which would have to be honoured by a new government.

So, the lack of fiscal discipline of the Yingluck government, the non-transparency, the total lack of responsibility lead to non-payment of bills months before Ms. Yingluck dissolved the House. Once she had done that, problems which had been hidden slowly started to emerge and became more widely known.

Conclusion: negligence my foot, utterly criminal behaviour of an elected government which respected the vote till it was counted and then declared a 'mandate' to do what they wanted most, help Thaksin and themselves.

[Piichai]

Lovely lovely coup.

Everyone knows that farmers would have been paid before if the Yingluck government hadn't been conned into surrendering power and holding elections in February. They won't fall for that con job in future.

Lovely lovely coup.

Stupid stupid Yingluck.

Everyone knows that farmers could have been paid if she had provided for them before dissolving parliament. Thankfully she won't get that job again in the future.

Stupid stupid Yingluck.