Ex-Democrat MP urges government to bare all the facts about rice pledging scheme

[webfact]

Ex-Democrat MP urges government to bare all the facts about rice pledging scheme



BANGKOK: -- Former Democrat MP for Phitsanuloke today urged the government to “bare all” to the public the facts about the rice pledging scheme in a straightforward manner.

Dr Warong Detkitvikrom who first blew the whistle about corruption in the scheme said that so long as the people who were involved in implementing the scheme refused to take responsibility for the damages, it was necessary that the government must tell the public all the truths about the scheme.

He warned that if the government was too concerned with reconciliation that it didn’t want to reveal all the truths about the rice pledging scheme, some elements would distort the facts and use them against the government in the future.

He thanked the government for responding positively to suggestion that the remaining rice in the stockpiles should not be sold in lump sum but should first be separated in accordance with their qualities and sold as such which would fetch better prices.

Dr Warong then dismissed as unacceptable an argument by former deputy commerce minister Yanyong Puangrach and the lawyers of former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra that she should not be held accountable for the damages from the scheme as the blame should be on the rice surveyors and owners of the warehouses where the rice were stored.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/ex-democrat-mp-urges-government-bare-facts-rice-pledging-scheme


-- Thai PBS 2014-12-22

[clockman]

That will never happen.T.I.T.

[seajae]

it would certainly shut a lot of the reds/ptp members/supporters up if all the facts were put out. Might actually make a lot of other citizens realize just how criminal the scheme was as well. I doubt that yl and her lackies could spin the truth the way they spin everything else

[Thai at Heart]

Please bring it all out.

Corruption, damages. Please so that at least they can build a proper case against these people or stop all this gossip and innuendo.

[ChrisY1]

Pipe dreams..........

[nong38]

It would at least show the Government were serious about stamping out corruption and let a lot of other folk realize that show was over and income will well down in the future.

[ScreamingEagle101]

Thai people and their children will be paying for the Rice Scam for years to come. They should be allowed to know why they are paying and who is responsible.

[Robby nz]

The only reason I could see for them not to release the whole report would be if they wanted to use what is in it as evidence in corruption proceedings against those already charged and the others who are likely to be charged.

If that is the case then the report would come out eventually in evidence at the trials.

[JOC]

it would certainly shut a lot of the reds/ptp members/supporters up if all the facts were put out. Might actually make a lot of other citizens realize just how criminal the scheme was as well. I doubt that yl and her lackies could spin the truth the way they spin everything else

Yes, spot on!!

Of course none of those today holier than thou yellows were involved in any way!!

The ricemillers, the ricetraders, the transporters, the smugglers and the warehouse-owners were of course all honorary members of the PTP?

You are aware of, that the present government today are paying 2 billion baht/month to warehouse owners to store rice, they themselves classify as rotten.

Wonder why?

Edited December 22, 2014 by JOC

[smutcakes]

The only reason I could see for them not to release the whole report would be if they wanted to use what is in it as evidence in corruption proceedings against those already charged and the others who are likely to be charged.

If that is the case then the report would come out eventually in evidence at the trials.

yes thats it nailed in one. Sure the opposition would not want to do that at all........

[Robby nz]

it would certainly shut a lot of the reds/ptp members/supporters up if all the facts were put out. Might actually make a lot of other citizens realize just how criminal the scheme was as well. I doubt that yl and her lackies could spin the truth the way they spin everything else

Yes, spot on!!

Of course none of those today holier than thou yellows were involved in any way!!

The ricemillers, the ricetraders, the transporters, the smugglers and the warehouse-owners were of course all honorary members of the PTP?

You are aware of, that the present government today are paying 2 billion baht/month to warehouse owners to store rice, they themselves classify as rotten.

Wonder why?

Leaving the stupidity of the yellow comments aside.

Don't you think there might be a lot of other charges yet to come from these inspections ?

What about the warehouse with the hole in the middle, the owner must have known about that and someone carted the rice away, the several warehouse fires, arson that was never investigated before.

What do you suggest the present Govt do with the millions of tons of rice still in warehouses that more than likely have contracts to store it, most of that rice can be sold although at a reduced price, contrary to your claim that they have said it is all rotten.

Come on, try to be positive for once, give a sensible suggestion that would alleviate the need to pay for storage until sales can be made.

[smutcakes]

Leaving the stupidity of the yellow comments aside.

Don't you think there might be a lot of other charges yet to come from these inspections ?

What about the warehouse with the hole in the middle, the owner must have known about that and someone carted the rice away, the several warehouse fires, arson that was never investigated before.

What do you suggest the present Govt do with the millions of tons of rice still in warehouses that more than likely have contracts to store it, most of that rice can be sold although at a reduced price, contrary to your claim that they have said it is all rotten.

Come on, try to be positive for once, give a sensible suggestion that would alleviate the need to pay for storage until sales can be made.

Robby, i wont disagree with the accusations you make, as like me you have no idea.

I will ask you one question though:

Will you hold the current Government liable in the same way you want YS Govt to be held liable for their errors? eg. giving out guns to people in the south, 40bn handed out etc etc

[whybother]

Does anyone think that the red shirts and their supporters would believe any evidence that was released anyway?

[whybother]

Leaving the stupidity of the yellow comments aside.

Don't you think there might be a lot of other charges yet to come from these inspections ?

What about the warehouse with the hole in the middle, the owner must have known about that and someone carted the rice away, the several warehouse fires, arson that was never investigated before.

What do you suggest the present Govt do with the millions of tons of rice still in warehouses that more than likely have contracts to store it, most of that rice can be sold although at a reduced price, contrary to your claim that they have said it is all rotten.

Come on, try to be positive for once, give a sensible suggestion that would alleviate the need to pay for storage until sales can be made.

Robby, i wont disagree with the accusations you make, as like me you have no idea.

I will ask you one question though:

Will you hold the current Government liable in the same way you want YS Govt to be held liable for their errors? eg. giving out guns to people in the south, 40bn handed out etc etc

Is there any evidence of corruption in the 40 billion baht that has been handed out?

[smutcakes]

Does anyone think that the red shirts and their supporters would believe any evidence that was released anyway?

Touche, would you not believe any evidence that was?

[whybother]

Does anyone think that the red shirts and their supporters would believe any evidence that was released anyway?

Touche, would you not believe any evidence that was?

I wouldn't know until I'd seen the evidence that was released.

[Thai at Heart]

Leaving the stupidity of the yellow comments aside.

Don't you think there might be a lot of other charges yet to come from these inspections ?

What about the warehouse with the hole in the middle, the owner must have known about that and someone carted the rice away, the several warehouse fires, arson that was never investigated before.

What do you suggest the present Govt do with the millions of tons of rice still in warehouses that more than likely have contracts to store it, most of that rice can be sold although at a reduced price, contrary to your claim that they have said it is all rotten.

Come on, try to be positive for once, give a sensible suggestion that would alleviate the need to pay for storage until sales can be made.

Robby, i wont disagree with the accusations you make, as like me you have no idea.

I will ask you one question though:

Will you hold the current Government liable in the same way you want YS Govt to be held liable for their errors? eg. giving out guns to people in the south, 40bn handed out etc etc

Is there any evidence of corruption in the 40 billion baht that has been handed out?

As yet, the amount allocated against corruption in the PTP scheme was trifling too.

So far, it is apparently the case that claiming something will be self funding which subsequently isn't, is the issue it seems. Yinglucks subsidies are wrong, but prayuths are ok it seems. Quite why this would be the case legally I am waiting to hear.

If this were the case to do with public investmentn in the uk, people would be on the hook every few months.

When was the last time a public investment was completed on budget and on time?

[smutcakes]

Leaving the stupidity of the yellow comments aside.

Don't you think there might be a lot of other charges yet to come from these inspections ?

What about the warehouse with the hole in the middle, the owner must have known about that and someone carted the rice away, the several warehouse fires, arson that was never investigated before.

What do you suggest the present Govt do with the millions of tons of rice still in warehouses that more than likely have contracts to store it, most of that rice can be sold although at a reduced price, contrary to your claim that they have said it is all rotten.

Come on, try to be positive for once, give a sensible suggestion that would alleviate the need to pay for storage until sales can be made.

Robby, i wont disagree with the accusations you make, as like me you have no idea.

I will ask you one question though:

Will you hold the current Government liable in the same way you want YS Govt to be held liable for their errors? eg. giving out guns to people in the south, 40bn handed out etc etc

Is there any evidence of corruption in the 40 billion baht that has been handed out?

So hand out 700 bn cash and its okay? Dont bother trying to get anything in return, or bother trying a policy just hand out the money?

Of course there is no implication of corruption in handing out the 40 bn.

Are you really honestly telling me i presume you live in Thailand that you think there was no money going awry?

What is to much? 40 obviously that is okay, 50 is that okay, 100 to much? when do you start to charge people? who makes that decision?

[FangFerang]

"Dr Warong then dismissed as unacceptable as the blame.... should be on the rice surveyors and owners of the warehouses where the rice were stored."

This is a farce. This approach would have every wrongdoing during Democrat administrations by subordinates held as evidence of their superior's responsibility.

Let the witch hunt resume.

And I DO NOT like the last government at all, but BS arguments are just that -- BS arguments. This is one brilliant example of a BS argument.

[tbthailand]

I would like to see a full report and not bits and pieces... Just before and after the 'intervention', huge amounts were supposedly not in the warehouses. Then they discovered that a minuscule amount could not be accounted for. Then 90% was ruined. The 80% could be sold.

A story that changes all the time won't ever be accepted. It just looks like the 'government' is trying to shoot a moving target.

So get it all out one time.

As a side note, I loved this part:

He warned that if the government was too concerned with reconciliation that it didn’t want to reveal all the truths about the rice pledging scheme, some elements would distort the facts and use them against the government in the future.

To imagine that this 'government' is worried about reconciliation?

[surangw]

if everything was know, there would be a lot of pay offs exposed.

[JOC]

it would certainly shut a lot of the reds/ptp members/supporters up if all the facts were put out. Might actually make a lot of other citizens realize just how criminal the scheme was as well. I doubt that yl and her lackies could spin the truth the way they spin everything else

Yes, spot on!!

Of course none of those today holier than thou yellows were involved in any way!!

The ricemillers, the ricetraders, the transporters, the smugglers and the warehouse-owners were of course all honorary members of the PTP?

You are aware of, that the present government today are paying 2 billion baht/month to warehouse owners to store rice, they themselves classify as rotten.

Wonder why?

Leaving the stupidity of the yellow comments aside.

Don't you think there might be a lot of other charges yet to come from these inspections ?

What about the warehouse with the hole in the middle, the owner must have known about that and someone carted the rice away, the several warehouse fires, arson that was never investigated before.

What do you suggest the present Govt do with the millions of tons of rice still in warehouses that more than likely have contracts to store it, most of that rice can be sold although at a reduced price, contrary to your claim that they have said it is all rotten.

Come on, try to be positive for once, give a sensible suggestion that would alleviate the need to pay for storage until sales can be made.

Common sense sense says get rid of it!! Take the loss, and get on with life,

Donate it or sell it cheap. Empty the warehouses within a month or two. That will alleviate the need to pay for the extra storage-space and remove the doubt for future customers, if they are getting the latest harvest or old substandard rice.

IMO the only chance Thailand has to regain the reputation as a producer of high quality rice.

Yes it is going to hurt, but the present daily inventories which differs depending on political affiliation doesn't exactly solve the problem.

If someone eventually is going to be held responsible for the mess, is a later question. Endless trials are only going to make the lawyers richer.

Not saying that YL should be let off the hook, but honestly we all know, it is only a play for the political gallery and a waste of time and resources.

[whybother]

Common sense sense says get rid of it!! Take the loss, and get on with life,

Donate it or sell it cheap. Empty the warehouses within a month or two. That will alleviate the need to pay for the extra storage-space and remove the doubt for future customers, if they are getting the latest harvest or old substandard rice.

IMO the only chance Thailand has to regain the reputation as a producer of high quality rice.

Yes it is going to hurt, but the present daily inventories which differs depending on political affiliation doesn't exactly solve the problem.

If someone eventually is going to be held responsible for the mess, is a later question. Endless trials are only going to make the lawyers richer.

Not saying that YL should be let off the hook, but honestly we all know, it is only a play for the political gallery and a waste of time and resources.

"Donate it or sell it cheap. Empty the warehouses within a month or two."

A few issues with that. IIRC, they exported 11 million tons this year. They've got 17 million tons to get rid of. How do you get rid of that much rice in a couple of months? If they dumped the lot of it, the price would plummet, leaving an even bigger hole for them to dig themselves out of. If they tried to export at discount prices, they'd be brought before the WTO for dumping.

[rubl]

I would like to see a full report and not bits and pieces... Just before and after the 'intervention', huge amounts were supposedly not in the warehouses. Then they discovered that a minuscule amount could not be accounted for. Then 90% was ruined. The 80% could be sold.

A story that changes all the time won't ever be accepted. It just looks like the 'government' is trying to shoot a moving target.

So get it all out one time.

As a side note, I loved this part:

He warned that if the government was too concerned with reconciliation that it didn’t want to reveal all the truths about the rice pledging scheme, some elements would distort the facts and use them against the government in the future.

To imagine that this 'government' is worried about reconciliation?

I assume you would have been really satisfied if the Yinglyuck Administration had done some administration? Pity we have to depend on others, isn't it? The report is final. See the other topic.

Most found to be of lower grade than registered before, but 16.7 million tonnes out of 17.89 can still be sold. 2.1 million tonnes of the grade as documented, 14.4 million tonnes to be re-graded. 6.94 million tonnes of spoiled or unknown origin rice.

To imagine the government has no clear documentation from the previous government to be able to consolidate figures, but needed to really go out and look.

[Robby nz]

Leaving the stupidity of the yellow comments aside.

Don't you think there might be a lot of other charges yet to come from these inspections ?

What about the warehouse with the hole in the middle, the owner must have known about that and someone carted the rice away, the several warehouse fires, arson that was never investigated before.

What do you suggest the present Govt do with the millions of tons of rice still in warehouses that more than likely have contracts to store it, most of that rice can be sold although at a reduced price, contrary to your claim that they have said it is all rotten.

Come on, try to be positive for once, give a sensible suggestion that would alleviate the need to pay for storage until sales can be made.

Robby, i wont disagree with the accusations you make, as like me you have no idea.

I will ask you one question though:

Will you hold the current Government liable in the same way you want YS Govt to be held liable for their errors? eg. giving out guns to people in the south, 40bn handed out etc etc

A troll attempt at diversion.

[chainarong]

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it would certainly shut a lot of the reds/ptp members/supporters up if all the facts were put out. Might actually make a lot of other citizens realize just how criminal the scheme was as well. I doubt that yl and her lackies could spin the truth the way they spin everything else

That is what it is all about to expose the extent of the damage done, Phitsanulok by the way is yellow shirt territory .

[Robby nz]

it would certainly shut a lot of the reds/ptp members/supporters up if all the facts were put out. Might actually make a lot of other citizens realize just how criminal the scheme was as well. I doubt that yl and her lackies could spin the truth the way they spin everything else

Yes, spot on!!

Of course none of those today holier than thou yellows were involved in any way!!

The ricemillers, the ricetraders, the transporters, the smugglers and the warehouse-owners were of course all honorary members of the PTP?

You are aware of, that the present government today are paying 2 billion baht/month to warehouse owners to store rice, they themselves classify as rotten.

Wonder why?

Leaving the stupidity of the yellow comments aside.

Don't you think there might be a lot of other charges yet to come from these inspections ?

What about the warehouse with the hole in the middle, the owner must have known about that and someone carted the rice away, the several warehouse fires, arson that was never investigated before.

What do you suggest the present Govt do with the millions of tons of rice still in warehouses that more than likely have contracts to store it, most of that rice can be sold although at a reduced price, contrary to your claim that they have said it is all rotten.

Come on, try to be positive for once, give a sensible suggestion that would alleviate the need to pay for storage until sales can be made.

Common sense sense says get rid of it!! Take the loss, and get on with life,

Donate it or sell it cheap. Empty the warehouses within a month or two. That will alleviate the need to pay for the extra storage-space and remove the doubt for future customers, if they are getting the latest harvest or old substandard rice.

IMO the only chance Thailand has to regain the reputation as a producer of high quality rice.

Yes it is going to hurt, but the present daily inventories which differs depending on political affiliation doesn't exactly solve the problem.

If someone eventually is going to be held responsible for the mess, is a later question. Endless trials are only going to make the lawyers richer.

Not saying that YL should be let off the hook, but honestly we all know, it is only a play for the political gallery and a waste of time and resources.

Good you have tried to be positive, keep it up.

But unfortunately as has already been pointed out it wont work for the reasons given, would be great if it could all be disposed of quickly.

There is also the fact that each seasons export crop also has to be sold and that must be a priority as it is the quality rice that the country wants to be known for supplying.

That will have to make up the bulk of the exports with the stored rice being auctioned separately so the buyers know what it is they are buying and not given false expectations, it also needs to be done to have as little impact as possible on the overall price. Quite a balancing act.

As far as trials go, one would hope that any prosecutions would lead to restitution from the guilty.

And no it is not a play to a political gallery but a message to future politicians that they must abide by the law and can and will be held responsible for both negligence and corruption.

[rickirs]

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The only reason I could see for them not to release the whole report would be if they wanted to use what is in it as evidence in corruption proceedings against those already charged and the others who are likely to be charged.

If that is the case then the report would come out eventually in evidence at the trials.

OR there is really no additional evidence to be released OR withheld evidence might actually support Yingluck's claim of innocence. So long as the Junta controls the government and the NRC with the ultimate conflict of interest as it relates to the government leaders it overthrew, creditability is in short demand.

[rickirs]

The PDRC and military has cost the Thai economy 3.5% of GDP growth for 2013 and 2014 - Bt100 billion+. Will they also be sued for the loss to the Thai people? When you are on the side of a military coup, you are on the side of the righeous and all others become outsiders. Such is justice in an oligarchy.

[Baerboxer]

The PDRC and military has cost the Thai economy 3.5% of GDP growth for 2013 and 2014 - Bt100 billion+. Will they also be sued for the loss to the Thai people? When you are on the side of a military coup, you are on the side of the righeous and all others become outsiders. Such is justice in an oligarchy.

Diversion - as usual.

This is about the rice pledging scheme.