Thai rice checking reveals only 10% of total 17 million tons meet quality specs

[webfact]

Rice checking reveals only 10% of total 17 million tons meet quality specs



BANGKOK: -- The checking of the huge government rice stockpiles has been completed with result showing only 10% of the huge 17 million tons of rice grains being up to quality.

Commerce minister Gen Chatchai Sarikallaya disclosed Monday morning that of the 17 million tons of grains inspected by the committee headed by M.L. Panadda Diskul, only three million tons are still in good quality and up to the specified standard.

However the rest 14 million tons are below standard, 700,000 tons are decaying, and 200,000 tons are missing from warehouses.

The finding will be forwarded to Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-ocha to find those responsible for legal actions, he said.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/rice-checking-reveals-10-total-17-million-tons-meet-quality-specs


-- Thai PBS 2014-12-08

[Fat Haggis]

How on earth are they going to shift that lot?

Only 200,000 missing ? Isn't that a lot less than claimed ?

The Junta are going tot have to make a swift decision as to what's going to happen to this poor rice, they're not going to get 15,000 baht per tonne for gash, i doubt they'll even get 5000 for it .

Tough decision are needed to solve this rice mountain.

[waza]

I guess that means a 90% loss on a 700 billion baht investment. Where did all the money go?

[Fiddlesticks]

The Junta are going tot have to make a swift decision as to what's going to happen to this poor rice, they're not going to get 15,000 baht per tonne for gash, i doubt they'll even get 5000 for it .

Package it up in glamorous packages and sell it to visitors as part of a hi-so tourist campaign to promote Thailand's delightful resources. Call it Gold Award Rice. Heck, if they can sell those idiotic privilege cards they can sell poor quality rice. Some people will buy anything.

[worgeordie]

Just think how much is been spent on warehousing crap

rice every week,the loses just keep mounting.

regards Worgeordie

[Pib]

Can rice be used in place of dirt? Expect not. But if it could, the govt would have plenty of material to build earth dam reservoirs across the country....should help minimize the effect of droughts.

[Robby nz]

How on earth are they going to shift that lot?

Only 200,000 missing ? Isn't that a lot less than claimed ?

The Junta are going tot have to make a swift decision as to what's going to happen to this poor rice, they're not going to get 15,000 baht per tonne for gash, i doubt they'll even get 5000 for it .

Tough decision are needed to solve this rice mountain.

What was claimed to be missing, which was around 2 million tons, was from the total that had been bought over the life of the scheme.

The 200K tons is what's missing from what is presently in storage.

To get the total that has disappeared there would need to be correlation between what was bought from the farmers, less loss from milling, loss through fires and flood and what was sold previous to the inspections.

There would also be the quantities that entered the scheme from other countries to factor in so it would be extremely difficult if not impossible to determine the total that has gone missing.

[harada]

I guess that means a 90% loss on a 700 billion baht investment. Where did all the money go?

Dubai, Isle of Man, Cayman Islands, Panama, etc etc.

[ikke]

Citizens should be discreet in trusting media, CDC sub-panel chief says......

This seems to be the answer to all topics....

[NeverSure]

I can't make the math in the OP work. We do know from reports over time that the government borrowed about 700 billion baht from the Ag Bank to fund this mess. But that was paying 15,000 baht per ton when it was worth much less.

So if 10% is good that doesn't mean they recoup 10% of what they paid. They paid far above market value, and now who would buy that 10% when it's getting old and to say the least untrustworthy?

What happens to the Ag Bank, not getting paid for this loan? The Ag Bank didn't have enough of its own capital to absorb this loss.

[deckape]

Their numbers are always different. I would chalk that up to poor reporting, poor English translation, and how little is actually known on the ground. Imagine trying to corral a bunch of career civil servants to try and grasp this mess?

The way it reads 17 million tons have been inspected. I assume that is a small fraction of the total rice in storage. But 200,000 tons missing is only about 1% of the total inspected quantity. That ain't bad at all.

Question: Why do they even bother reporting this in the English language news? If they are trying to discredit the only previous administration, they have failed. Every last one of them look dumb now.

[JetsetBkk]

We've got a few sink-holes in Phuket that need filling...

[IMA_FARANG]

The Junta are going tot have to make a swift decision as to what's going to happen to this poor rice, they're not going to get 15,000 baht per tonne for gash, i doubt they'll even get 5000 for it .

Package it up in glamorous packages and sell it to visitors as part of a hi-so tourist campaign to promote Thailand's delightful resources. Call it Gold Award Rice. Heck, if they can sell those idiotic privilege cards they can sell poor quality rice. Some people will buy anything.

-------------------------------

Make it a requirement to eat 1000 tons of Thai store piled rice in the next five years or take back their 5 year free entry for a Thai Elite card.

[ballpoint]

Well, I was walking along Sukhumvit, minding my own business, when a policeman tapped me on the shoulder, pulled me off to one side, forced 5kg of rotten rice down my throat, and charged me 500 baht. So I suppose they've found a way of dealing with it, and making a bit extra on the side.

[EyesWideOpen]

Wiser minds at TV knew this scam was going to end in a trail of tears,

but the level is shocking even to me. I also predict not a single head

will roll over this scam......

[Greenhill]

So, 10% ('upto quality'), will be exported and the rest fed to the local population???!!!

[EyesWideOpen]

So, 10% ('upto quality'), will be exported and the rest fed to the local population???!!!

I have wondered about that myself. I was thinking maybe time to start

buying Vietnamese rice in the market....

[kurnell]

Is Thailand know for quality anything?

[EyesWideOpen]

Is Thailand know for quality anything?

Girls.....

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

So, 10% ('upto quality'), will be exported and the rest fed to the local population???!!!

Coming soon to a food court or street-side food stand near all of us!

[Thai at Heart]

I guess that means a 90% loss on a 700 billion baht investment. Where did all the money go?

Up to specified grade.

Grade A becomes grade b, so not 90%

[kurnell]

Is Thailand know for quality anything?

Girls.....

Shazam!

[tingtong]

Time to introduce the free rice for every family for New Year program!

(Not sure what the problem about decay....only last week they had announced that they can turn the decaying rice to normal. Looks like the magic of the junta is failing, once again.

Mind you, keep making bold statements in the media, the lies will catch on!)

[notmyself]

10% of 17 million is 1.7 million and not 3 million as stated in the article.

[wirat69]

Surely gasohol, cooking wine or Sake are options....

[mikemac]

How on earth are they going to shift that lot?

Only 200,000 missing ? Isn't that a lot less than claimed ?

The Junta are going tot have to make a swift decision as to what's going to happen to this poor rice, they're not going to get 15,000 baht per tonne for gash, i doubt they'll even get 5000 for it .

Tough decision are needed to solve this rice mountain.

......................"Tough decision are needed to solve this rice mountain."................................

Well put, Fatty, and I think there will be a lot more tough decisions for the PM to make in the future, such is the mess he opted to sort out.

[jacky54]

no Thai rice is as good as indian

[mikemac]

Can rice be used in place of dirt? Expect not. But if it could, the govt would have plenty of material to build earth dam reservoirs across the country....should help minimize the effect of droughts.

* Note to self - Never live in a house downstream from a dam that Pib built !

[Robby nz]

Their numbers are always different. I would chalk that up to poor reporting, poor English translation, and how little is actually known on the ground. Imagine trying to corral a bunch of career civil servants to try and grasp this mess?

The way it reads 17 million tons have been inspected. I assume that is a small fraction of the total rice in storage. But 200,000 tons missing is only about 1% of the total inspected quantity. That ain't bad at all.

Question: Why do they even bother reporting this in the English language news? If they are trying to discredit the only previous administration, they have failed. Every last one of them look dumb now.

You assume wrong, 17 million tons is the total of the rice in storage, they have inspected every silo and warehouse used to store rice from the scheme.

It is not however the total that has been bought over the life of the scheme.

Some has been sold, in spite of repeated lies about G 2 G deals there was some exported and some has gone to domestic consumption, there was also some that was given as overseas aid, including some recently that went to Ebola hit countries.

It should be noted however that not all rice farmers participated in the scheme and some of those would have sold the rice they had to sell through the normal traders, unless of course millers bought their rice and claimed from the Govt anyway.

You are right, every last one of the previous administration do look dumb as there was warning after warning given that the scheme would end as it has with massive losses to the state.

With Thailand's reputation for supplying quality rice gone because of shipments of sub standard rice made to countries such as Iran, Ivory Coast (2 of the previous biggest buyers) and the USA , a reputation that the commerce ministry is now working to get back with a delegation from Iran due here soon.

And now with the added consequence that the farmers are deeper in debt than they ever were.

That only 10% of the rice in storage is of good quality does not mean the other 90% is only poor quality and can be sold, a percentage of the total, in previous reports said to be between 10 and 20%, is completely worthless, either contaminated beyond redemption or degraded to powder.

There are and will be for some time ongoing costs for storage and sales of what is on hand meaning the loss will continue to mount.

As an afterthought on 24 April 2014 :

Minister Yanyong visited the NACC on Wednesday to submit a letter asserting that inspections of the rice stock in warehouses, carried out in March by Ministry of Commerce officials and members of the rice stock inspection committee, found that the entire 18.7 million tons of rice was intact and another 1.1 million tons was being fumigated.

Possibly someone should ask Ex Minister Yanyong where the other 2.8 million tons has gone between March 2014 and the date of the NACC inspections.

[mikemac]

Wiser minds at TV knew this scam was going to end in a trail of tears,

but the level is shocking even to me. I also predict not a single head

will roll over this scam......

Not surprising that this particular scam was seen to be a disaster. But what is surprising is that there are still "very slow people" out there who continue to defend it and downplay it. Diddling figures is never going to fix this.