Thai exporters call for creation of Rice Board

[webfact]

Exporters call for creation of Rice Board
PETCHANET PRATRUANGKRAI
THE NATION



BANGKOK: -- THE THAI RICE Exporters Association (TREA) yesterday proposed to the National Council for Peace and Order the setting up of an independent "Rice Board", comprising representatives from all involved to set up rice management policies and development plans for promoting sustainable growth of the industry.

The proposal was made following expectations that the military government would not intervene in the market mechanism any longer, as it has created huge losses for the country as well as destroyed rice exporters' competitiveness.

The association also believes that Thailand will reclaim its crown as the world's largest rice exporter this year with expected export volume of 9 million tonnes, higher than the previous projection in January of 7.5 million tonnes due to the lower price of Thai rice and lower export competition from India and Vietnam in the short run.

Association president Charoen Laothamatas said that to increase efficiency of the rice industry management and ensure fair benefit to all involved, an independent Rice Board should be set up. The panel should be free from the impact of political changes so that the Thai rice industry could be developed without any intervention, despite changes in government.

The panel should involve representatives from farmers, millers, local traders, exporters, academics, and representatives from government agencies. The panel should have full authority to draw up policies and increase the role of the market mechanism but should not intervene in the market system, he said.

Charoen said that Thailand had learnt a valuable lesson from market intervention by setting a high pledging price. The government has faced huge losses from pledging and is left with enormous stockpiles, while the rice trading system has been destroyed. The government should no longer set up any subsidy project as it has destroyed both farmers and traders.

He pointed out that without subsidy measures, the government could save at least Bt45 billion to Bt50 billion to help farmers with other long-term measures such as reducing the cost of production.

To manage rice output in the upcoming harvest season second crop and the 2014-15 main crop harvest season, Charoen said the government could negotiate for selling rice in the futures market on export overseas so that farmers will have exact market and gain stable rice price.

TREA honorary president Korbsook Iamsuri said that Thailand needs to have a clear roadmap to develop the rice industry from upstream to downstream with no political intervention.

She said that the current National Rice Policy Committee has no efficiency to manipulate the rice industry, as it comprises only representatives from the government sides. The National Rice Policy Committee should be under the Rice Board as the board would not depend on politics and would focus only on industry development.

The Rice Board could be set up under the Act so that in future politicians would not intervene in the rice industry as in the past, she added.

Chookiat Ophaswongse, honorary president of the association, said that Thai rice exports this year would reach 9 million tonnes, worth about US$4.75 billion (Bt150 billion).

Export volume has increased largely this year as the price of Thai rice has fallen gradually because the market is aware that the Thai government holds giant stockpiles and needs to release them continuously.

The export value will not increase as much as the volume due to the low price of Thai rice. The average price per tonne of Thai rice is expected at $510 a tonne, compared with $620 a tonne last year, said Chookiat.

However, the price of Thai rice has already bottomed out in recent months. The association foresees that the price of Thai rice is expected to increase slightly in the following months by about 10 per cent or $20-30 a tonne.

Vichai Sriprasert, another honorary president, said the pledging project had not only created huge losses to the country, but also destroyed farmers in the long run. The price of paddy rice in the local market has dropped sharply from Bt11,000 a tonne during pledging to only Bt7,000 a tonne now.


-- The Nation 2014-06-05

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[Tatsujin]

Vichai Sriprasert, another honorary president, said the pledging project had not only created huge losses to the country, but also destroyed farmers in the long run. The price of paddy rice in the local market has dropped sharply from Bt11,000 a tonne during pledging to only Bt7,000 a tonne now.

Kind of sums it all up. What a total and utter waste of money. The only people who got rich were the ones making the scheme, not the ones who it was supposed to benefit. But then, anyone who believed it was for the benefit of their poor downtrodden brothers was seriously naive/deluded/stupid. It was all for the benefit of one person and his friends and family.

[ramrod711]

The panel should be free from the impact of political changes so that the Thai rice industry could be developed without any intervention, despite changes in government.

Another good idea, sparked of course, by the idiotic policies of the PTP government.

[ezzra]

Sure why not, Rice board, one more rung on the ladder of corruption....

[NongKhaiKid]

Vichai Sriprasert, another honorary president, said the pledging project had not only created huge losses to the country, but also destroyed farmers in the long run. The price of paddy rice in the local market has dropped sharply from Bt11,000 a tonne during pledging to only Bt7,000 a tonne now.

Kind of sums it all up. What a total and utter waste of money. The only people who got rich were the ones making the scheme, not the ones who it was supposed to benefit. But then, anyone who believed it was for the benefit of their poor downtrodden brothers was seriously naive/deluded/stupid. It was all for the benefit of one person and his friends and family.

yet there are still those on the defensive about the scheme and how the non-payments since last year were the fault of anti-government protesters while discreetly ignoring the times of events.

[winstonc]

Vichai Sriprasert, another honorary president, said the pledging project had not only created huge losses to the country, but also destroyed farmers in the long run. The price of paddy rice in the local market has dropped sharply from Bt11,000 a tonne during pledging to only Bt7,000 a tonne now.

Kind of sums it all up. What a total and utter waste of money. The only people who got rich were the ones making the scheme, not the ones who it was supposed to benefit. But then, anyone who believed it was for the benefit of their poor downtrodden brothers was seriously naive/deluded/stupid. It was all for the benefit of one person and his friends and family.

yet there are still those on the defensive about the scheme and how the non-payments since last year were the fault of anti-government protesters while discreetly ignoring the times of events.

bill will be along later to defend said scheme..bless him he is persistent at it wonder if he will answer why they werent paid before dissolution..

[chainarong]

The board or Co-Op should comprise of the players in the rice business and maybe someone from Treasury and Agriculture departments, keep the politicians out , these people nominate and are elected by the farmers, the government would have to start the ball rolling with finance , but the owners would be the farmers , any help needed contact the farmers federation Australia.

[Chao Lao Beach]

Why not help the farmers become more productive ?

[bristolgeoff]

i,am sure no one from the takism clan is not welcome to be on it

[rametindallas]

Since rice is a national security issue and the overproduction of it hurts every farmer, why not license the growing of commercial rice. Restrict growing to only those who have been rice farmers for five years or more and restrict the land they can grow on to land that is truly suitable for rice production. Implement schemes that bring the productivity levels of Thai rice farmers up to SE Asian standards and there would be no need for rice subsidy payments. If more rice is needed in the world, the corrupt rice scheme has already proven that production can be boosted in one season and reduced the next. Stable production quotas lead to stable incomes and predictable lives. Keep the 'Johnny-come-lately' speculators out of the market.

[khunianb]

Perhaps the Thai Rice Exporters Association is part of the problem. They have the exclusive legal right to export rice from Thailand and are a club of a relatively small number of wealthy families. Perhaps the NCPO should consider who is making money from rice production because it is not the farmers! Repealing the law that gives the TREA the right to export and getting the Ministries to help farmers' co-operatives to export would give the farmers a fairer share of the profits from rice production.

[Baerboxer]

Vichai Sriprasert, another honorary president, said the pledging project had not only created huge losses to the country, but also destroyed farmers in the long run. The price of paddy rice in the local market has dropped sharply from Bt11,000 a tonne during pledging to only Bt7,000 a tonne now.

Kind of sums it all up. What a total and utter waste of money. The only people who got rich were the ones making the scheme, not the ones who it was supposed to benefit. But then, anyone who believed it was for the benefit of their poor downtrodden brothers was seriously naive/deluded/stupid. It was all for the benefit of one person and his friends and family.

Let's hope that those charged with investigating the PTP administered scheme really do a serious job - forensic auditing, follow the money trails, the awarding of contracts for milling, transport, storage etc., any fraudulent documentation and false sales, inventory discrepancies etc etc. And, where evidence permits, prosecute in accordance with the law.

This time there has to be the big fish caught and dealt with to really create credibility - not just a few minions and then all back to "normal". A large number of Thais I know really want to see Yingluck imprisoned, along with some of her cabinet to demonstrate things will change. I doubt they will somehow.

Rice, and other agricultural produce is an important part of the Thai economy. The whole industry needs appropriate managing. Most "developed" countries attempt to manage their food related industries with subsidies, regulations and controls, for environmental and sustainability as well as profit. Thailand is no different,

Edited June 5, 2014 by Baerboxer

[billsmart]

Vichai Sriprasert, another honorary president, said the pledging project had not only created huge losses to the country, but also destroyed farmers in the long run. The price of paddy rice in the local market has dropped sharply from Bt11,000 a tonne during pledging to only Bt7,000 a tonne now.

Kind of sums it all up. What a total and utter waste of money. The only people who got rich were the ones making the scheme, not the ones who it was supposed to benefit. But then, anyone who believed it was for the benefit of their poor downtrodden brothers was seriously naive/deluded/stupid. It was all for the benefit of one person and his friends and family.

yet there are still those on the defensive about the scheme and how the non-payments since last year were the fault of anti-government protesters while discreetly ignoring the times of events.

bill will be along later to defend said scheme..bless him he is persistent at it wonder if he will answer why they werent paid before dissolution..

I wasn't going to comment on this thread but since I received such a nice invitation I will...

I do think a Rice Board could work in theory if it was comprised of representatives from all parties concerned - including SMALL FARMERS), was (as suggested above) politically independent and somehow free from corruption. These are big asks, but something that should at least be considered. I like the idea of local farming cooperatives that buy, store and sell local farmers' rice, and have funds to provide education, own and maintain equipment and make loans. In the USA these are privately run, but they could also be administered by the local governments.

As far as the former government's records on paying farmers, always in the past the payments were made about 2 to 3 weeks after the sale/purchase of the rice. Farmers in our area harvested and sold their rice in mid-November. Yingluck dissolved her government on 9-Dec after many weeks of Bangkok street protests by the minority opposition.

It's not unreasonable to me to believe the government was concentrating their efforts in trying to resolve the issues driving these protests before finally deciding the only way to do so was to dissolve the government and hold new elections to re-establish their mandate to govern. In the meantime the payments for the rice crop harvested in November went unpaid, but even then there was an expectation among the farmers I know that they would be paid soon, at worst case after the elections no matter who won. Instead the Election Commission refused to allow the Caretaker Government to acquire the money to pay the farmers citing that it might give them an unfair advantage in the then upcoming scheduled election. And of course the minority opposition backed this decision for obviouls political reason.

What is unreasonable to me is the belief that many of you seem to hold that Yingluck would not have acquired this money and pay the farmers if there had been no disruptive Bangkok street protests by the minority opposition. First of all it was a commitment, second of all most of the farmers were her supporters and lastly there would have been no problem getting the money if she had kept the legislature seated. Instead some of you seem to think she would have just woke up one morning as think, 'Let's screw the farmers out of their payments and piss-off one of my party's biggest voting blocks.' That sound very unreasonable to me.

Why do any of you think otherwise?

[winstonc]

nice try billy bob..but why oh why were they not paid from late august.

[Tatsujin]

Vichai Sriprasert, another honorary president, said the pledging project had not only created huge losses to the country, but also destroyed farmers in the long run. The price of paddy rice in the local market has dropped sharply from Bt11,000 a tonne during pledging to only Bt7,000 a tonne now.

Kind of sums it all up. What a total and utter waste of money. The only people who got rich were the ones making the scheme, not the ones who it was supposed to benefit. But then, anyone who believed it was for the benefit of their poor downtrodden brothers was seriously naive/deluded/stupid. It was all for the benefit of one person and his friends and family.

yet there are still those on the defensive about the scheme and how the non-payments since last year were the fault of anti-government protesters while discreetly ignoring the times of events.

bill will be along later to defend said scheme..bless him he is persistent at it wonder if he will answer why they werent paid before dissolution..

I wasn't going to comment on this thread but since I received such a nice invitation I will...

I do think a Rice Board could work in theory if it was comprised of representatives from all parties concerned - including SMALL FARMERS), was (as suggested above) politically independent and somehow free from corruption. These are big asks, but something that should at least be considered. I like the idea of local farming cooperatives that buy, store and sell local farmers' rice, and have funds to provide education, own and maintain equipment and make loans. In the USA these are privately run, but they could also be administered by the local governments.

As far as the former government's records on paying farmers, always in the past the payments were made about 2 to 3 weeks after the sale/purchase of the rice. Farmers in our area harvested and sold their rice in mid-November. Yingluck dissolved her government on 9-Dec after many weeks of Bangkok street protests by the minority opposition.

It's not unreasonable to me to believe the government was concentrating their efforts in trying to resolve the issues driving these protests before finally deciding the only way to do so was to dissolve the government and hold new elections to re-establish their mandate to govern. In the meantime the payments for the rice crop harvested in November went unpaid, but even then there was an expectation among the farmers I know that they would be paid soon, at worst case after the elections no matter who won. Instead the Election Commission refused to allow the Caretaker Government to acquire the money to pay the farmers citing that it might give them an unfair advantage in the then upcoming scheduled election. And of course the minority opposition backed this decision for obviouls political reason.

What is unreasonable to me is the belief that many of you seem to hold that Yingluck would not have acquired this money and pay the farmers if there had been no disruptive Bangkok street protests by the minority opposition. First of all it was a commitment, second of all most of the farmers were her supporters and lastly there would have been no problem getting the money if she had kept the legislature seated. Instead some of you seem to think she would have just woke up one morning as think, 'Let's screw the farmers out of their payments and piss-off one of my party's biggest voting blocks.' That sound very unreasonable to me.

Why do any of you think otherwise?

"As far as the former government's records on paying farmers, always in the past the payments were made about 2 to 3 weeks after the sale/purchase of the rice."

What a crock of <deleted>.

The only thing I can say is that the farmers you are talking about are the "red" farmers in "red" areas cos lots and lots of others didn't get paid FOR MONTHS PRIOR TO DISSOLUTION.

As for blaming the non-payment on the protests and the dissolution itself, well, perhaps they should have thought about that before rushing into dissolving parliament. Anyone with half a brain could see what was happening and what was going to happen. There were very few "sales" so you are actually talking about "purchases" (by the Govt) in which case why weren't funds preallocated?

The fact that they hurriedly dissolved Parliament WITHOUT planning ahead and ensuring payments could be met is just another of their shortsighted "acts" that was done at the insistence of Thaksin. No one to blame except themselves, but spin it however you want Bill if deluding yourself makes you feel better about things.

[bigbamboo]

A Bread Board would be better.

[UbonRatch]

Glad to see they're calling for a 'Board', and not another 'Committee' ..

Then again, what's next? Thailand, hub of Boards?

[slapout]

Just about every farm product that this or prior groups of politicians have got a toe hold in on prices, production, govt purchases, storage, etc has been a money graq by those it was not meant to even be connected to it.

Don't stop on rice, include all farm products, a corn farmer has no problem understanding problems encountered by fruit, veggie, etc, nor do cattlemen not understand problems of buffalo, goat, sheep, etc breeders, and finally chickens , ducks, etc could be included.

Ther problem is finding people who have the producers, end user's benifet being of concern, not some monoply type shell companies/agents. Take this latter group out and when they do get in and caught make the penalities, both financial and jail time so dreadful for wrongdoing while being so good for any informant, that those involve4d and monitoring same, will be counting paper clips to find dirt for a whistle blower award.

[Greer]

Why not help the farmers become more productive ?

Have a look at the article, and in fact you will see that is one of the aims of the board, by allowing the savings from various pledging schemes and other support to be redirected to help improve farming efficiency.