People behind rice scheme will be sued to cover losses, Prayut says

[Lite Beer]

People behind rice scheme will be sued to cover losses, Prayut says
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Puts damage at Bt680 billion, with figure rising by Bt2 billion a month

The government will take legal action against people deemed responsible for the Bt680 billion in estimated losses from the rice price-pledging scheme, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said yesterday.

The PM said that even after the remaining 17 million tonnes of rice in the government stockpile were sold, losses would amount to some Bt680 billion.

"Legal action will be taken, particularly involving the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission. Both criminal and civil action will be taken, and compensation for damages will be sought," Prayut said.

He said the Commerce Ministry would calculate the final amount of damages.

"We don't know the exact figure now because the Commerce Ministry is [still] selling the rice in the government stock."

The prime minister said that of the 17 million tonnes of rice remaining when the post-coup administration started, only 2.35 million were up to standard. About 700,000 tonnes was in a bad condition while the remainder was of poor quality.

Prayut spoke to the media after chairing a National Rice Policy Committee meeting.

He said the government would attempt to sell all rice in the stockpile within three years but he was concerned that many prospective buyers might not be interested.

He said the government was aware that expediting rice sales could lead to a price decrease.

The government is spending more than Bt2 billion a month renting warehouses to store rice bought under the scrapped pledging scheme, he said.

But the government would attempt to maintain Thailand's status as the world's No.1 rice exporter, following Vietnam's announcement earlier this week of its plan to become the top exporter.

"We will not focus on quantity only - there must be quality too," he said. "We aim to sell at high prices. All the parties involved must work together."

Yesterday, Thailand and China signed a memorandum of understanding at Government House for the sale of two million tonnes of Thai rice to China.

Meanwhile, the National Anti-Corruption Commission is expected to decide early next year whether to pursue a case against former commerce minister Boonsong Teriyapirom over alleged irregularities involving the sale of rice, NACC President Panthep Klanarongran said.

Panthep said he had urged the investigation committee, chaired by Vicha Mahakun, to expedite its work on the case so that a probe report can be completed before the year-end.

"But the NACC is unlikely to decide within this year. This case is likely to be forwarded to the NACC for a decision early next year," he said.

In a related development, Democrat Party politician Warong Dechgitvigrom urged the government to review plans to sell rice from its stock in large lots.

He said that by selling rice of different quality together, prospective buyers would attempt to push down prices and corrupt officials would benefit from helping buyers prepared to pay bribes get rice at low prices.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/People-behind-rice-scheme-will-be-sued-to-cover-lo-30250291.html

-- The Nation 2014-12-20

[kurnell]

Yeah, I'm sure they'll get their money back

[NongKhaiKid]

Just a thought but if any of this ever reaches the courts just how long will it take, if ever, to be decided ?

[smutcakes]

If they can actually nail someone for corruption and put an amount on it, i think they should try and recover it.

However bad the scheme is though, or money lost, it is just inconceivable that you could make people compensate for a poor scheme.

[ezzra]

I don't think this country has enough courts rooms and jail cells to contain all those that are involve

in the rice rackets... thousand of people are involved, from the lowly farmers to the highest

government officials...

[greenchair]

I see in the paper that we cannot name. The instigators of the rice scheme have all been excused. Even though rampant corruption is right there on paper for all to see. The programme was not a profit making enterprise anyway. It was always going to be a loss. It was a way to give back to the farmers a little bit of the billions of baht the make for this country through their hard work. The rice farmers are amongst the very poorest in Thailand. Everybody is making money except them. Now the government is trying to make another scheme to give back to the farmers. Same same but different. What will the Thai do if the farmers decide to stop growing rice.

[Robby nz]

If they can actually nail someone for corruption and put an amount on it, i think they should try and recover it.

However bad the scheme is though, or money lost, it is just inconceivable that you could make people compensate for a poor scheme.

Not the poor scheme mate its the corruption and lies that went with it, for instance the fake G2G deals and saying everything was fine when very obviously it was not and doing nothing to fix problems.

[Robby nz]

I see in the paper that we cannot name. The instigators of the rice scheme have all been excused. Even though rampant corruption is right there on paper for all to see. The programme was not a profit making enterprise anyway. It was always going to be a loss. It was a way to give back to the farmers a little bit of the billions of baht the make for this country through their hard work. The rice farmers are amongst the very poorest in Thailand. Everybody is making money except them. Now the government is trying to make another scheme to give back to the farmers. Same same but different. What will the Thai do if the farmers decide to stop growing rice.

If you are talking about the BKK Post which you can name but cant quote from then it reports the PM as saying there will be both criminal and civil law suited brought over the scheme.

[apetley]

Just over 2 million tonnes out of 17 million of good quality, the rest poor or inedible.

This will drive down the price of Thai rice for years so no wonder they are trying to limit production at present.

Rice farmers have been well and truly screwed over.

[alfalfa19]

If they can actually nail someone for corruption and put an amount on it, i think they should try and recover it.

However bad the scheme is though, or money lost, it is just inconceivable that you could make people compensate for a poor scheme.

Not a poor scheme, but rather an effective and huge scam, at least for those at the top.

[ATF]

How don they propose to get all the minor officials involved to pay? 1000 baht per month for the next 500 years?

[The stuttering parrot]

Who's this bloke to talk about rorting?

Query him and he flys off the handle.

He should stick to more important things like his new career as a Indian wedding planner.

[ChrisY1]

If they can actually nail someone for corruption and put an amount on it, i think they should try and recover it.

However bad the scheme is though, or money lost, it is just inconceivable that you could make people compensate for a poor scheme.

I can't think any case or anyone that has been ordered to pay back ill gotten gains....you're likely correct in that, compensation repaid for poorly planned schemes is difficult...but blatant corruption is something else...anyway......nothing'll happen!!

[thesetat2013]

If they can actually nail someone for corruption and put an amount on it, i think they should try and recover it.

However bad the scheme is though, or money lost, it is just inconceivable that you could make people compensate for a poor scheme.

What are you thinking? They would not be paying for it being a poor scheme. They would be paying because of their ineptness and mismanagement and for allowing, aiding, or turning a blind eye to the corruption in the scheme.

[saltandpepper]

Who's this bloke to talk about rorting?

Query him and he flys off the handle.

He should stick to more important things like his new career as a Indian wedding planner.

....and let the rice scheme management in the hands of your lady hero? Sure she demonstrated so much skills..!

[rametindallas]

If this happens in the next five years, it will be the dawn of a new era in Thailand. That insiders and backhanders and crooked politicians will be held financially responsible for the losses they cost/caused is a pipe dream. I think the good PM is starting to believe his on rhetoric. I continue hope for the best and expect the worse and am rarely disappointed.

[dinger]

So they are paying BT 2 billion a month storage but they are unwilling to sell the remaining rice at a discount to just get rid of it. Makes perfect sense

[rametindallas]

If they can actually nail someone for corruption and put an amount on it, i think they should try and recover it.

However bad the scheme is though, or money lost, it is just inconceivable that you could make people compensate for a poor scheme.

make people compensate for a poor scheme.

If the scheme was planned, from the beginning, to be a failure, be unaccountable, and, in the process, skim off huge sums of money, then, yes, those involved should be made to pay compensation if proven guilty in the courts; which should be in the year 2050 CE. You know, even governments can be criminal organizations. This is a nice speech but it ain't gonna happen except maybe to a few millers and storage owners.

[noitom]

The suing doesn't cover anything. It's the collection that counts.

[rametindallas]

I see in the paper that we cannot name. The instigators of the rice scheme have all been excused. Even though rampant corruption is right there on paper for all to see. The programme was not a profit making enterprise anyway. It was always going to be a loss. It was a way to give back to the farmers a little bit of the billions of baht the make for this country through their hard work. The rice farmers are amongst the very poorest in Thailand. Everybody is making money except them. Now the government is trying to make another scheme to give back to the farmers. Same same but different. What will the Thai do if the farmers decide to stop growing rice.

Cry me a river!

I see in the paper that we cannot name. You can name it. It's the Bangkok Post. You just can't quote from it or link any of their stuff. The instigators of the rice scheme have all been excused. Even though rampant corruption is right there on paper for all to see. The programme was not a profit making enterprise anyway. It was always going to be a loss. No, it was supposed to pay for itself, if you believed the government (which you apparently did) It was a way to give back to the farmers a little bit of the billions of baht the make for this country These farmers don't pay taxes. They make money for themselves, the millers, and the wholesalers but not for "this country." through their hard work Rice farming is one of the lazier types of farming. They drive taxis in Bangkok waiting on the rice to grow and ripen. I grew up on a dairy and worked a hundred times harder. Where's my government "give back"? . The rice farmers are amongst the very poorest in Thailand They're also the least productive in ASEAN. Did the infamous Rice Support Scheme improve Thai rice farmers' production? NO!. Everybody is making money except them Dude! For longer than two years, they just got paid 40% more than any other rice producers in the whole world through the Scheme! . Now the government is trying to make another scheme to give back to the farmers Not much of a Scheme; more piecemeal until they can get a real plan together . Same same but different. Nothing close to "same, same" What will the Thai do if the farmers decide to stop growing rice. What choice do they have? Beside, haven't you heard? There is a world glut of rice on the market. To answer your question, Thailand wold get better quality rice if Thai rice farmers changed crops (except for those few areas that can grow quality 'khao hom mali').

Thanks for easy to shred post. I had a rough day.

Edited December 20, 2014 by rametindallas

[Paratrinque]

Quote: "The prime minister said that of the 17 million tonnes of rice remaining when the post-coup administration started, only 2.35 million were up to standard. About 700,000 tonnes was in a bad condition while the remainder was of poor quality."

So, who in their right minds is going to buy the 700.000 tonnes in "Bad condition" and the remaining 14,643,000 tonnes?

[rametindallas]

Quote: "The prime minister said that of the 17 million tonnes of rice remaining when the post-coup administration started, only 2.35 million were up to standard. About 700,000 tonnes was in a bad condition while the remainder was of poor quality."

So, who in their right minds is going to buy the 700.000 tonnes in "Bad condition" and the remaining 14,643,000 tonnes?

If it's not too bad, animal feed producers will buy it and if it's really bad, ethanol producers will buy it. Of course, the prices they pay will be significantly less than for food grade, export quality rice.

[Tatsujin]

Actually she's the thai peoples hero who democratically elected her and her party.

Just don't recall the thai people electing this bloke who refuses to answer any queries on the way he and many others in the thai army amassed massive amounts of wealth.

Oh here we go again with the parrot who can't speak properly.

Just cos you're "democratically elected" doesn't then give you carte blanche to do whatever the hell you want. These people are supposed to "serve" the public, not screw them over at every opportunity with the only goal being the massive increase of their own personal wealth and continuation of their tenure by any means possible.

The only thing I do agree with you on is that the PM and the Military ALSO have a lot of questions to answer with regards to corruption, nepotism and their own massive increases in personal wealth, which they also will never do. Mind you, he wasn't elected so I guess he's not beholden to anyone to do anything he doesn't want to do currently.

[worgeordie]

Throw more money down the black hole,just so the Lawyers can get rich,

it will go on for years and years,and in the end ,as usual no one will be

found guilty of anything.

regards Worgeordie

Edited December 20, 2014 by worgeordie

[Ricardo]

Quote: "The prime minister said that of the 17 million tonnes of rice remaining when the post-coup administration started, only 2.35 million were up to standard. About 700,000 tonnes was in a bad condition while the remainder was of poor quality."

So, who in their right minds is going to buy the 700.000 tonnes in "Bad condition" and the remaining 14,643,000 tonnes?

It would be wise to examine very carefully the Thai rice you see, on-display in your local Thai market or rice-shop, for the next few years at least !

And Chinese prison-occupants don't have a lot of choice, I would suspect.

Starving Africans, desperate typhoon-victims, Have We Got A Deal For You !

The pity of it is that the person who thought up this scam is beyond the reach of any Thai law, although any people who skimmed the storage or substituted cheaper grades & informally-imported rice should be available, expect at least a few more prosecutions.

And the politicians who ignored or denied the many warnings, or announced fake-deals with friendly countries or related-companies, should pay the political price.

[Kf6vci]

Excuse me? We are talking about more than 500 billion Baht. How did that go when they sued the governor of the Bank of Thailand for billions following the crash in 1997 (?).

In the West, a corrupt cop loses his pension entitlement and may do time in a prison. I'm in favor of coming after the people who engaged in this insane scheme. (Economics 101 teaches students about THE MARKET). But then, horrendous losses were probably a calculated side effect. After all, it's other people's money...

How do we explain our children how Thailand doubled the national debt in just a decade?!?

[minikev]

So they are paying BT 2 billion a month storage but they are unwilling to sell the remaining rice at a discount to just get rid of it. Makes perfect sense

Actually not selling cheap does make sense as Thailand's rice is a very important commodity, Future crops would be affected and the income of the farmers in years to come. They should distribute it free to schools and hospitals etc. Save a bit of the inflated rents by the scammers that are still benefitting.

[Kasset Tak]

Actually she's the thai peoples hero who democratically elected her and her party.

Just don't recall the thai people electing this bloke who refuses to answer any queries on the way he and many others in the thai army amassed massive amounts of wealth.

Yingluck had a minority government, they got 48% of the votes.

Most resent poll in Isan on best government leaders:

Male: Prayut 34%, Thaksin 17% and Apisit 4,5% and the rest spreadout.

Female: Yingluck 36% and Paveena 3,5%... And 58% said that there where no qualified female leaders!

I would have like to see an overall but they had it separate.

That means that even with only one contender couldn't Yingluck manage to get over 50% of the votes! I wonder how much of a hero she really is?!

[mikemac]

I see in the paper that we cannot name. The instigators of the rice scheme have all been excused. Even though rampant corruption is right there on paper for all to see. The programme was not a profit making enterprise anyway. It was always going to be a loss. It was a way to give back to the farmers a little bit of the billions of baht the make for this country through their hard work. The rice farmers are amongst the very poorest in Thailand. Everybody is making money except them. Now the government is trying to make another scheme to give back to the farmers. Same same but different. What will the Thai do if the farmers decide to stop growing rice.

......................."It was a way to give back to the farmers a little bit of the billions of baht the make for this country through their hard work"...................

A nice thought but there are/were a couple of "issues".

Some of the farmers were not paid for their rice, not by Yingluck and co. anyway, and suffered in a big way. Anyone who knows anything about Thai farmers know they live on the edge when it comes to money, when they sell their crops they need to be paid fast, to pay bills and prepare to plant the next crop. This caused many problems and even resulted in several farmers taking their own lives.

The other issue is, that even though Yingluck's incompetent so-called government are no longer in power, their legacy lives on. Farmers are now being paid a lot less for this recently harvested crop, thanks to the disastrous rice scheme.

Red fans can contradict me all they like, but that is the plain truth.

My wife and I help her family out with money, but not all families have that luxury.

[wabothai]

Everybody involved has had plenty of time to hide the stolen money.

TURN EVERY STONE !!!!