Warong: rice pledging scheme the worst in 16 aspects

BANGKOK: -- Former Democrat MP Warong Detkitvikrom described the Pheu Thai-led government’s rice pledging scheme as “the worst” in 16 aspects:

1. The most expensive project ever with 870 billion baht spent for just five crops, 2011-12 main crop, 2011 second crop, 2012-13 main crop main crop, 2013 second crop and 2013-14 main crop;

2. The fastest spent funding. 500 billion baht fund was completed depleted in three years to the extent that the government owed over a million of farming households;

3. The most cheated project with corruption in every step of implementation

4. The most destructive scheme as far as export was concerned with Thailand losing its status as the world’s No 1 rice exporter;

5. The highest number of suicides among farmers, 16 altogether

6. The highest number of warehouse used to store rice – 1,800 warehouses and 117 silos;

7. The highest storage cost ever spent;

8. The most number of ministers employed to oversee the scheme – altogether six, including Kittirat Na-ranong, Boonsong Teriphirom, Poom Saraphol, Niwatthamrong Bunsongphaisan, Yanyong Puangrach and Varathep Rattanakorn

9. Most beneficial to foreign rice exporters

10. Most destructive project ever

11. Most complicated cheating trick

12. Most amount of missing rice

13. Most amount of rotten rice

14. Most covered-up project

15. Most unanswered questions.

16. Most amount of foreign grains ever sold to Thailand.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/warong-rice-pledging-scheme-worst-16-aspects/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=warong-rice-pledging-scheme-worst-16-aspects

-- Thai PBS 2014-07-20

The whole loss will simply be written off......and the unusually rich will carry on regardless.....albeit a few court cases that will progress over years....

With no disrespect to the origins ... 'Lest We Forget' ... the excesses of this Scheme.

Well, the Democrat's rice price guarantee scheme in affect before the PTP rice pledging scheme replaced it wasn't exactly a model program by a long shot. But with that being said, the PTP rice pledging scheme was indeed bad-to-the-bone for the country. Yes, the rice farmers loved the PTP rice pledging scheme since it ended up paying almost twice the going world market rate, but at a great taxpayers expense.

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This could have been an OP 2 years ago and would have still been applicable.

I am only glad it had finally come out now so the people responsible can be held accountable.

Its not only rice,but Lamyai,Rubber,and Shrimps,the Govt. should not be in the business

of buying farm products,helping the farmers while helping themselves even more.

regards worgeordie

870 Bil and counting. So we were right to ignore the spin and believe it's closer to a tril. What a shame.

It's a debt too. It's all borrowed, it's off-books and if put on books and marked to market it would fundamentally change Thailand's numbers and break the government owned bank which holds the loans.

If anyone should know about the level of corruption in the rice scheme it is Khun Warong for he has been personally involved in investigating it from way back.

He was the one who gathered most of the evidence that was put forward at both the first and second no confidence debates only to be laughed at by PT who, as me ancient granny used to say, are laughing on the other side of their faces now.

He was also the one who opened the sack of rotten rice in the house only to have Nuttawat leap up and threaten to report him to the police for theft.

And yet, the chairman of this Rice Support Scheme Scam, who was also PM, is allowed to leave the country on the eve of being formally indited for dereliction of duty.

"Forgive them, for they know not what they do."

Well it did provide us with a couple of years of fun in the part of Red Shirt Farangs denying any wrong doing, denying the scheme was corrupt and denying that billions were being lost.

And we have all their denial on record for the next time they deny the obvious.

Everybody knew their was skullduggery going on and all of the apathetic let it unfold, a shell game of the highest magnitude.

50% of the budget of the European Budget is spent on subsidies to agriculture.

The highest amount in France is 1 500 000 paid to a farmer .... growing rice.

In UK, it is said that HM the Queen (whom I respect and like) is in the top 10 beneficiaries of this policy.

What about the USA?

What about poor farmers living on 30 000 THB per year?

This scheme was maybe a bad one but you need to find other solutions to address the problems of food supply security and farmers living conditions.

It was never supposed to be a profitable enterprise. It was ran at a loss because the farmers were not surviving economically and many were seeking other more lucrative jobs in cities. The rice farmers are known to be amongst the poorest in Thailand, though creating billions of baht in profit to the country. many countries provide subsidies to their farmers,while knowing the subsidy is a loss to tax payers. no farmers no food. as simple as that. The scheme needed some tweaking and adjustment yes.but now once again, what do the farmers have??? Nothing

"Forgive them, for they know not what they do."

They knew exactly what they were doing.

'He was the one who gathered most of the evidence that was put forward at both the first and second no confidence debates only to be laughed at by PT who, as me ancient granny used to say, are laughing on the other side of their faces now.'

They're laughing all the way to the bank - off-shore.

It was never supposed to be a profitable enterprise. It was ran at a loss because the farmers were not surviving economically and many were seeking other more lucrative jobs in cities. The rice farmers are known to be amongst the poorest in Thailand, though creating billions of baht in profit to the country. many countries provide subsidies to their farmers,while knowing the subsidy is a loss to tax payers. no farmers no food. as simple as that. The scheme needed some tweaking and adjustment yes.but now once again, what do the farmers have??? Nothing

Those who benefited from the billions of Baht profit could simply have reduced the prices they forced on the farmers, many of which went up for no reason other than the fact of the rice scheme.

Hardly a surprise, the writing was on the wall what the outcome would be.

What was a surprise, instead of the throwing the perpetrators in Jail, rotting away in the same fashion as the rice, what do they do?

Grant them the right to travel to have party time in Paris, no doubt celebrating their new found wealth from yet another money-making SCAM !

I am not a fan of the rice pledging scheme/scan whatsoever, but this article is crap, and the list of aspects are silly.

The plan had plenty of specific problems, it's better to talk about those then say things like, "Most complicated cheating trick" and "Most covered up project".

I'm afraid I have to call this "The dumbest most vaguest sweeping statements list."

50% of the budget of the European Budget is spent on subsidies to agriculture.

The highest amount in France is 1 500 000 paid to a farmer .... growing rice.

In UK, it is said that HM the Queen (whom I respect and like) is in the top 10 beneficiaries of this policy.

What about the USA?

What about poor farmers living on 30 000 THB per year?

This scheme was maybe a bad one but you need to find other solutions to address the problems of food supply security and farmers living conditions.

Quote from BBC, "The Sovereign Grant, which covers the costs of the Queen's official duties, will reach £40m next April.

The grant is calculated as a percentage of profits from the Crown Estate, which includes properties such as Windsor Park and much of the UK coastline.

Meanwhile, Buckingham Palace accounts show about a third of the grant is spent maintaining the royal palaces."

Where you get your information from is a total mystery to me and the money comes from profits!

870 Bil and counting. So we were right to ignore the spin and believe it's closer to a tril. What a shame.

It's a debt too. It's all borrowed, it's off-books and if put on books and marked to market it would fundamentally change Thailand's numbers and break the government owned bank which holds the loans.

That's like £18 Billion!!!

I had no idea it was running into these sort of numbers.