Thai farmers poorest in ASEAN

[Maggusoil]

One of our relatives sells fruit at a market. She has recently been buying mangosteen direct from the farmer at 3 baht per kilo !!! How does the farmer make anything at 3 baht per kilo The markets then sell it at 10-15 baht per kilo. The farmers have zero hope.

ps does anybody know what to do with the 20kg of mangosteen in my garage. We have eaten it till we can eat no more. Can I make jam, juice, wine, marmalade anything will do.

Under another name and sold as a medicine this fruit is being touted as the latest cure all in the West. Forget the name now sorry.

[Kasset Tak]

The rent for one rai of farmland have gone up in some parts 100% or more than before the rice pledging scheme.

Many farmers that used to use crop rotation started to just growing rice because of the high price. The effect were that more fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides were needed resulting in a higher production cost.

And still some blame the junta for canceling the rice pledging scheme and don't understanding that a government can't buy a product at +200% of the market price!

If the farmers want to blame anyone then they should blame CP as they at the moment stands for 50% or more of the food industry/retail in Thailand with production of chicken, pork, beef, rice, fruit, ready made food and so on, they control the whole change from farmers-factories-outlets (7-11, macro etc.). I did see a survey about the fish farms in Tak and Kamphaeng Phet provinces (Ping river from Bhumibol dam to the beginning of Chao Phraya river), about 85% are contract farmers for CP! CP is one of the biggest food companies in the world so this company alone have a higher impact on the market price than any Thai government!

[bronco10250]

The rent for one rai of farmland have gone up in some parts 100% or more than before the rice pledging scheme.

Many farmers that used to use crop rotation started to just growing rice because of the high price. The effect were that more fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides were needed resulting in a higher production cost.

And still some blame the junta for canceling the rice pledging scheme and don't understanding that a government can't buy a product at +200% of the market price!

If the farmers want to blame anyone then they should blame CP as they at the moment stands for 50% or more of the food industry/retail in Thailand with production of chicken, pork, beef, rice, fruit, ready made food and so on, they control the whole change from farmers-factories-outlets (7-11, macro etc.). I did see a survey about the fish farms in Tak and Kamphaeng Phet provinces (Ping river from Bhumibol dam to the beginning of Chao Phraya river), about 85% are contract farmers for CP! CP is one of the biggest food companies in the world so this company alone have a higher impact on the market price than any Thai government!

Right to the point as this was not mentioned in the article! - Guess why?!

[joecoolfrog]

Fang Ferrang

You sir have hit the nail squarely on the head , the problems did not start with Thaksin and will not end with his demise . TRT became a phenomenon because it was the first party to reach out to Thailands rural poor , it gave them hope , and that genie is not going to go back in the bottle.

Incidently , before some of you start , I despised Thaksin as a chancer who cared nothing for those he purported to represent . In my view his greed has put back the democratic process 20 years , lets hope the next ' peoples ' party gets the leader it deserves.

[somo]

This situation has been in place for a long time -- hence the wild moves to support Thaksin and elect his proxies. Most land is rented -- the biggest dent the farmers get is from paying share cropper land rental rates.

Duh. Has that changed...no?

I hope the military can undo this indentured slave trade. Thaksin was/is a symptom of a sick culture and top-down subordination that persists even under the junta.

Rant all you want about (red sympathizers) farmers being mistreated and (yellow bellied sap suckers) farmers having their votes bought.

There are not very many games in town. Voters in desperate places will ALWAYS vote for whoever even seems to help them.

That's the Dems failure. They have no interest in raising standards of living. SET and baht trading prices are way more important than the populace.

I keep hearing people complaining about Thaksin, the rice scheme, and the corruption, but I have not heard one single sustainable suggestion -- from either side on TVF -- about how the lives of the desperately poor can be made better. Not one--just a redundant, boring set of attacks on Thaksin and his cronies or indignant outcries for western-style democracy.

If you're not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.

Lowering costs helps some, but not much. Lowering milling costs would do more, as well as lowering middle man selling profits. If that can happen is the both worst guesses and best guesses of anyone.

This crap was going on before any of us here were born, but we think, arrogantly, if we read a few stories, have an assessment, and pick a side to support that it counts for anything.

It doesn't -- it's a big echo chamber, chamber, chamber...

Agree with much of the above but want to make a couple of comments.

Rents for agricultural lad are actually low. About 1000-1,500 Baht/rai/year ie about 2-3% of the land cost.

Voters everywhere not just those in desperate places vote for whoever seem to help. That's just normal politics.

Whatever you think of Thaksin he has put Isaan on the political map and as a result huge amounts of money have poured into the place from all sides in an attempt buy popularity. That in itself is something very positive for the area which has in the past decade grown over twice as fast as other parts of Thailand.

The areas that matter have not really been improved and they are education and agricultural efficiency. Both are long term projects so don't interest many politicians who as you say want to appear to be doing something popular now. Lack of longer term planning seems a national trait that is shelved in favour of short term partying which Thais are very good at.

[JoeThePoster]

The 80 baht lottery ticket is going to change this very soon.

[ginjag]

What "farmers" are we talking about ??? the minority that own the vast farms etc or the majority that have 200x200 meters??

[Thai at Heart]

The rent for one rai of farmland have gone up in some parts 100% or more than before the rice pledging scheme.

Many farmers that used to use crop rotation started to just growing rice because of the high price. The effect were that more fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides were needed resulting in a higher production cost.

And still some blame the junta for canceling the rice pledging scheme and don't understanding that a government can't buy a product at +200% of the market price!

If the farmers want to blame anyone then they should blame CP as they at the moment stands for 50% or more of the food industry/retail in Thailand with production of chicken, pork, beef, rice, fruit, ready made food and so on, they control the whole change from farmers-factories-outlets (7-11, macro etc.). I did see a survey about the fish farms in Tak and Kamphaeng Phet provinces (Ping river from Bhumibol dam to the beginning of Chao Phraya river), about 85% are contract farmers for CP! CP is one of the biggest food companies in the world so this company alone have a higher impact on the market price than any Thai government!

And of course, CP are in need of protection from foreign companies who are prevented d from entering the market in Thailand.

While everyone was apparently terrified of foreigners entering farming, CP was busy laughing all the way to the bank.

[lostinisaan]

Not just the poorest regarding money. Same goes for education, jobs, relationships, etc...

I've watched my mother and father in law over a period of 12 years now and nothing has changed.

Still a very high percentage trying to escape by using Lao Khao, or Jaba. How can you watch the daily soap operas, always about rich people with guns and houses and cars and and and, while having nothing.

The two buffaloes don't count anymore. Haven't seen one Thai English teacher in the village who could speak more words in English than yes, no, or, hello on the phone,

They're the ones who get permanently screwed. And most of them don't even know what ASEAN means.

It's not just sad, it's tragic, to let those mostly nice people starve, they're fed up with lies from the government.

Thanks a lot to Thaksin and his sister for helping my family so much. They don't deserve it. They're nice people others could learn a lesson from.

[chongtak]

The Thai Farmers maybe the poorest but if you speak Thai they are happier than any other farmer in the World

Money is not everything this a western thing Happiness is very important in Thailand

You must be living in another Thailand...

Sent from my Lenovo A3000-H using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[plachon]

The rent for one rai of farmland have gone up in some parts 100% or more than before the rice pledging scheme.

Many farmers that used to use crop rotation started to just growing rice because of the high price. The effect were that more fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides were needed resulting in a higher production cost.

And still some blame the junta for canceling the rice pledging scheme and don't understanding that a government can't buy a product at +200% of the market price!

If the farmers want to blame anyone then they should blame CP as they at the moment stands for 50% or more of the food industry/retail in Thailand with production of chicken, pork, beef, rice, fruit, ready made food and so on, they control the whole change from farmers-factories-outlets (7-11, macro etc.). I did see a survey about the fish farms in Tak and Kamphaeng Phet provinces (Ping river from Bhumibol dam to the beginning of Chao Phraya river), about 85% are contract farmers for CP! CP is one of the biggest food companies in the world so this company alone have a higher impact on the market price than any Thai government!

And of course, CP are in need of protection from foreign companies who are prevented d from entering the market in Thailand.

While everyone was apparently terrified of foreigners entering farming, CP was busy laughing all the way to the bank.

While I would not disagree with the notion that CP has been prevented from exposure to "free and fair" competition from foreign transnational agribusinesses, I would reject the notion that had Thailand opened its doors wide to every company under the sun, that the situation for Thai farmers would have been better. They would still have been indebted to agribusiness and pouring chemicals onto their land and down their cramped livestocks' throats at the rate of knots, but the main difference would have been there would have been far fewer farmers, as the land would no longer be in as many farmers' hands, but far more would have been tenant farmers or shunted out of farming altogether. Now, this latter situation may well have been a "good thing" economically for those marginal households, as small-scale farming can be a deadend occupation in a modern, industrialised economy; but the simple fact is that there are other potential benefits from farming as a livelihood than simply "maximising efficiency" under a neo-liberal agricultural model, as trends towards organic farming and de-intensification on ecological grounds in the post-industrial Western world are demonstrating. Questions of biodiversity, land and water stewardship arise, which the Cargills, Monsantos and Betagros are no better at answering than CP.

CP has profited handsomely from its protection and dominance, for sure, but the problem is not so much the lack of other CPs, but the model of farming and wider economical model promoted that is the core of the trouble in Thailand. This needs root and stem reform, which would then solve the cause of the illness, not just its symptoms. The role of agriculture as a perceived facet of "Thainess" needs to be debated openly. Unlikely to happen, however, under present political malaise.

[Thai at Heart]

The rent for one rai of farmland have gone up in some parts 100% or more than before the rice pledging scheme.

Many farmers that used to use crop rotation started to just growing rice because of the high price. The effect were that more fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides were needed resulting in a higher production cost.

And still some blame the junta for canceling the rice pledging scheme and don't understanding that a government can't buy a product at +200% of the market price!

If the farmers want to blame anyone then they should blame CP as they at the moment stands for 50% or more of the food industry/retail in Thailand with production of chicken, pork, beef, rice, fruit, ready made food and so on, they control the whole change from farmers-factories-outlets (7-11, macro etc.). I did see a survey about the fish farms in Tak and Kamphaeng Phet provinces (Ping river from Bhumibol dam to the beginning of Chao Phraya river), about 85% are contract farmers for CP! CP is one of the biggest food companies in the world so this company alone have a higher impact on the market price than any Thai government!

And of course, CP are in need of protection from foreign companies who are prevented d from entering the market in Thailand.

While everyone was apparently terrified of foreigners entering farming, CP was busy laughing all the way to the bank.

While I would not disagree with the notion that CP has been prevented from exposure to "free and fair" competition from foreign transnational agribusinesses, I would reject the notion that had Thailand opened its doors wide to every company under the sun, that the situation for Thai farmers would have been better. They would still have been indebted to agribusiness and pouring chemicals onto their land and down their cramped livestocks' throats at the rate of knots, but the main difference would have been there would have been far fewer farmers, as the land would no longer be in any farmers' hands but they would all have been tenant farmers or moved out of farming altogether. Now, this latter may have been a good thing economically for those households, as small-scale farming can be a deadend occupation in a modern, industrialised economy, but the simple fact is that there are other benefits from farming than simply "maximising efficiency" under a neo-liberal agricultural model, as trends towards organic farming and de-intensification on ecological grounds in the post-industrial Western world are demonstrating.

CP has profited handsomely from its protection and dominance, for sure, but the problem is not so much the lack of other CPs, but the model of farming and wider economical model promoted that is the core of the trouble in Thailand. This needs root and stem reform, which would then solve the cause of the illness, not just its symptoms. Unlikely to happen, however, under present political malaise.

Well I beg to disagree. I was in a market I. Thailand with 3 participants. The govt, and two foreign joint ventures. The joint ventures exported, the Thai did domestic.

Prices rose princely due to competition with the govt the port of last resort for the farmer. These markets need more competition to squeeze supply volume and to scrape margin off the middle man.

Having one player with such a massive scale and dominance is never going to be good with the farmer. They need to have more demand in the market and allowing foreigners is is one surefire way.

CP is supplying who? Foreign companies. These foreign companies would love to have another significant supplier in the market too to play off on CP. But of course CP is never going to let that happen.

[plachon]

The rent for one rai of farmland have gone up in some parts 100% or more than before the rice pledging scheme.

Many farmers that used to use crop rotation started to just growing rice because of the high price. The effect were that more fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides were needed resulting in a higher production cost.

And still some blame the junta for canceling the rice pledging scheme and don't understanding that a government can't buy a product at +200% of the market price!

If the farmers want to blame anyone then they should blame CP as they at the moment stands for 50% or more of the food industry/retail in Thailand with production of chicken, pork, beef, rice, fruit, ready made food and so on, they control the whole change from farmers-factories-outlets (7-11, macro etc.). I did see a survey about the fish farms in Tak and Kamphaeng Phet provinces (Ping river from Bhumibol dam to the beginning of Chao Phraya river), about 85% are contract farmers for CP! CP is one of the biggest food companies in the world so this company alone have a higher impact on the market price than any Thai government!

And of course, CP are in need of protection from foreign companies who are prevented d from entering the market in Thailand.

While everyone was apparently terrified of foreigners entering farming, CP was busy laughing all the way to the bank.

While I would not disagree with the notion that CP has been prevented from exposure to "free and fair" competition from foreign transnational agribusinesses, I would reject the notion that had Thailand opened its doors wide to every company under the sun, that the situation for Thai farmers would have been better. They would still have been indebted to agribusiness and pouring chemicals onto their land and down their cramped livestocks' throats at the rate of knots, but the main difference would have been there would have been far fewer farmers, as the land would no longer be in any farmers' hands but they would all have been tenant farmers or moved out of farming altogether. Now, this latter may have been a good thing economically for those households, as small-scale farming can be a deadend occupation in a modern, industrialised economy, but the simple fact is that there are other benefits from farming than simply "maximising efficiency" under a neo-liberal agricultural model, as trends towards organic farming and de-intensification on ecological grounds in the post-industrial Western world are demonstrating.

CP has profited handsomely from its protection and dominance, for sure, but the problem is not so much the lack of other CPs, but the model of farming and wider economical model promoted that is the core of the trouble in Thailand. This needs root and stem reform, which would then solve the cause of the illness, not just its symptoms. Unlikely to happen, however, under present political malaise.

Well I beg to disagree. I was in a market I. Thailand with 3 participants. The govt, and two foreign joint ventures. The joint ventures exported, the Thai did domestic.

Prices rose princely due to competition with the govt the port of last resort for the farmer. These markets need more competition to squeeze supply volume and to scrape margin off the middle man.

Having one player with such a massive scale and dominance is never going to be good with the farmer. They need to have more demand in the market and allowing foreigners is is one surefire way.

CP is supplying who? Foreign companies. These foreign companies would love to have another significant supplier in the market too to play off on CP. But of course CP is never going to let that happen.

As I said, there are bigger structural problems that need to be addressed first, if the problems of the agricultural sector are to be wisely addressed. Letting in more foreign competition is not the immediate or universal answer to ordinary Thai farmers' woes. Having a debate about the future of farming, with farmers themselves given a prominent voice, would be a good start. It may turn out that many want nothing more than to get out of agriculture and into a nice, steady waged job in a factory, in which case they should be helped. At the same time there may be many others sweating in a factory, who would like nothing more than to return to the more independent lifestyle than farming offers. Then one can turn to the questions I raised about what model of farming should be encouraged on the land - intensive agribusiness or a more sustainable form of farming?

[scorecard]

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

The rent for one rai of farmland have gone up in some parts 100% or more than before the rice pledging scheme.
Many farmers that used to use crop rotation started to just growing rice because of the high price. The effect were that more fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides were needed resulting in a higher production cost.
And still some blame the junta for canceling the rice pledging scheme and don't understanding that a government can't buy a product at +200% of the market price!

If the farmers want to blame anyone then they should blame CP as they at the moment stands for 50% or more of the food industry/retail in Thailand with production of chicken, pork, beef, rice, fruit, ready made food and so on, they control the whole change from farmers-factories-outlets (7-11, macro etc.). I did see a survey about the fish farms in Tak and Kamphaeng Phet provinces (Ping river from Bhumibol dam to the beginning of Chao Phraya river), about 85% are contract farmers for CP! CP is one of the biggest food companies in the world so this company alone have a higher impact on the market price than any Thai government!

And of course, CP are in need of protection from foreign companies who are prevented d from entering the market in Thailand.

While everyone was apparently terrified of foreigners entering farming, CP was busy laughing all the way to the bank.

While I would not disagree with the notion that CP has been prevented from exposure to "free and fair" competition from foreign transnational agribusinesses, I would reject the notion that had Thailand opened its doors wide to every company under the sun, that the situation for Thai farmers would have been better. They would still have been indebted to agribusiness and pouring chemicals onto their land and down their cramped livestocks' throats at the rate of knots, but the main difference would have been there would have been far fewer farmers, as the land would no longer be in any farmers' hands but they would all have been tenant farmers or moved out of farming altogether. Now, this latter may have been a good thing economically for those households, as small-scale farming can be a deadend occupation in a modern, industrialised economy, but the simple fact is that there are other benefits from farming than simply "maximising efficiency" under a neo-liberal agricultural model, as trends towards organic farming and de-intensification on ecological grounds in the post-industrial Western world are demonstrating.

CP has profited handsomely from its protection and dominance, for sure, but the problem is not so much the lack of other CPs, but the model of farming and wider economical model promoted that is the core of the trouble in Thailand. This needs root and stem reform, which would then solve the cause of the illness, not just its symptoms. Unlikely to happen, however, under present political malaise.

Well I beg to disagree. I was in a market I. Thailand with 3 participants. The govt, and two foreign joint ventures. The joint ventures exported, the Thai did domestic.

Prices rose princely due to competition with the govt the port of last resort for the farmer. These markets need more competition to squeeze supply volume and to scrape margin off the middle man.

Having one player with such a massive scale and dominance is never going to be good with the farmer. They need to have more demand in the market and allowing foreigners is is one surefire way.

CP is supplying who? Foreign companies. These foreign companies would love to have another significant supplier in the market too to play off on CP. But of course CP is never going to let that happen.

And good reason why conglomerates should be banned, in all countries.

[tso310]

Isn't it also a fact that there are fewer people actually working as farmers these days. Looking at my wife's village in southern Buriram, the village is empty except for old people and school children for most of the year. The majority of people either work in one of the factories on the outskirts of Bangkok or are building labourers in places like Chonburi. Quite a few factories have also sprung up locally, chicken and rubber mainly.

[scorecard]

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

Not just the poorest regarding money. Same goes for education, jobs, relationships, etc...

I've watched my mother and father in law over a period of 12 years now and nothing has changed.

Still a very high percentage trying to escape by using Lao Khao, or Jaba. How can you watch the daily soap operas, always about rich people with guns and houses and cars and and and, while having nothing.

The two buffaloes don't count anymore. Haven't seen one Thai English teacher in the village who could speak more words in English than yes, no, or, hello on the phone,

They're the ones who get permanently screwed. And most of them don't even know what ASEAN means.

It's not just sad, it's tragic, to let those mostly nice people starve, they're fed up with lies from the government.

Thanks a lot to Thaksin and his sister for helping my family so much. They don't deserve it. They're nice people others could learn a lesson from.

"I've watched my mother and father in law over a period of 12 years now and nothing has changed."

"Thanks a lot to Thaksin and his sister for helping my family so much. They don't deserve it. They're nice people others could learn a lesson from."

These statements seem to clash.

[Thai at Heart]

The rent for one rai of farmland have gone up in some parts 100% or more than before the rice pledging scheme.

Many farmers that used to use crop rotation started to just growing rice because of the high price. The effect were that more fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides were needed resulting in a higher production cost.

And still some blame the junta for canceling the rice pledging scheme and don't understanding that a government can't buy a product at +200% of the market price!

If the farmers want to blame anyone then they should blame CP as they at the moment stands for 50% or more of the food industry/retail in Thailand with production of chicken, pork, beef, rice, fruit, ready made food and so on, they control the whole change from farmers-factories-outlets (7-11, macro etc.). I did see a survey about the fish farms in Tak and Kamphaeng Phet provinces (Ping river from Bhumibol dam to the beginning of Chao Phraya river), about 85% are contract farmers for CP! CP is one of the biggest food companies in the world so this company alone have a higher impact on the market price than any Thai government!

And of course, CP are in need of protection from foreign companies who are prevented d from entering the market in Thailand.

While everyone was apparently terrified of foreigners entering farming, CP was busy laughing all the way to the bank.

While I would not disagree with the notion that CP has been prevented from exposure to "free and fair" competition from foreign transnational agribusinesses, I would reject the notion that had Thailand opened its doors wide to every company under the sun, that the situation for Thai farmers would have been better. They would still have been indebted to agribusiness and pouring chemicals onto their land and down their cramped livestocks' throats at the rate of knots, but the main difference would have been there would have been far fewer farmers, as the land would no longer be in any farmers' hands but they would all have been tenant farmers or moved out of farming altogether. Now, this latter may have been a good thing economically for those households, as small-scale farming can be a deadend occupation in a modern, industrialised economy, but the simple fact is that there are other benefits from farming than simply "maximising efficiency" under a neo-liberal agricultural model, as trends towards organic farming and de-intensification on ecological grounds in the post-industrial Western world are demonstrating.

CP has profited handsomely from its protection and dominance, for sure, but the problem is not so much the lack of other CPs, but the model of farming and wider economical model promoted that is the core of the trouble in Thailand. This needs root and stem reform, which would then solve the cause of the illness, not just its symptoms. Unlikely to happen, however, under present political malaise.

Well I beg to disagree. I was in a market I. Thailand with 3 participants. The govt, and two foreign joint ventures. The joint ventures exported, the Thai did domestic.

Prices rose princely due to competition with the govt the port of last resort for the farmer. These markets need more competition to squeeze supply volume and to scrape margin off the middle man.

Having one player with such a massive scale and dominance is never going to be good with the farmer. They need to have more demand in the market and allowing foreigners is is one surefire way.

CP is supplying who? Foreign companies. These foreign companies would love to have another significant supplier in the market too to play off on CP. But of course CP is never going to let that happen.

As I said, there are bigger structural problems that need to be addressed first, if the problems of the agricultural sector are to be wisely addressed. Letting in more foreign competition is not the immediate or universal answer to ordinary Thai farmers' woes. Having a debate about the future of farming, with farmers themselves given a prominent voice, would be a good start. It may turn out that many want nothing more than to get out of agriculture and into a nice, steady waged job in a factory, in which case they should be helped. At the same time there may be many others sweating in a factory, who would like nothing more than to return to the more independent lifestyle than farming offers. Then one can turn to the questions I raised about what model of farming should be encouraged on the land - intensive agribusiness or a more sustainable form of farming?

Well of course, it isn't everything but it is an important part.

At the end of it, there are parts of isaan with such poverty and poor infrastructure that the farmers are one crop from disaster permenenantly.

No govt has ever done enough to solve this problem. At least superficially Thaksin started. Let's hope it continues. Basically, these people have to be subsidised one way or another.it is the most simple economic thing to do to lever them away from poverty.

[Thai at Heart]

Isn't it also a fact that there are fewer people actually working as farmers these days. Looking at my wife's village in southern Buriram, the village is empty except for old people and school children for most of the year. The majority of people either work in one of the factories on the outskirts of Bangkok or are building labourers in places like Chonburi. Quite a few factories have also sprung up locally, chicken and rubber mainly.

Yes. The villages are dying. Just read how much rubber the companies produce for themselves. It is moving to plantation slowly but surely.

[selftaopath]

"Thai farmers are the poorest among other farmers in Asean countries..."

Yet the Thai rice farmers continue to use the same methods, take the same subsidies, and believe the same bull about the next government scheme that will increase their profits, while getting poorer every year. They are either too proud or just plain too thick in the head to change their ways. The rest of the world is not buying Thai rice any more, except as a gourmet product. In a very short time the other ASEAN countries will be producing a higher quality product and be able to sell it for less money than Thai farmers can grow it.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Thailand will fall behind in other industries, including tourism. Making it more difficult to get extended tourist visas is going to backfire very soon and once long term tourists and business entrepreneurs discover friendlier environments in other ASEAN countries,Thailand will reach a point from which it will never recover.

I agree with you entirely. Seems like anything remotely seen as "change" is avoided in Isaan where we live.

I'd like to see statistics on how labor intensive growing rice is. I wonder if it's possible neighboring countries are out working Thai farmers claiming a bigger profit margin for their efforts?