Rising anger in Thailand's boom-to-bust Isaan

[webfact]

Rising anger in Thailand's boom-to-bust northeast
By Pairat Temphairojana and Simon Webb

* Rising discontent in Thailand's northeast
* Farmers angry at govt over economic hardships
* Thaksin "red shirts" warn they will eventually strike
* Govt seeks to revive rural economy, warns of nationwide impact

KHON KAEN, Thailand, Oct 1 (Reuters) - The rural heartland of Thailand's deposed leader Yingluck Shinawatra and her exiled billionaire brother Thaksin is hurting as a result of the military government's economic policies, stirring discontent and the threat of protests.

The removal of generous agricultural subsidies has left rice farmers in northeast Thailand struggling with mounting debts, and they will get little relief when they sell their crop in coming months with rice prices near an 8-year low.

Petty crime is on the rise and retailers are struggling. The vast Platinum 168 shopping mall on the outskirts of the provincial capital of Udon Thani was built during the boom, but it is now less than a third occupied and no longer charging tenants rent.

"People are complaining about the rising costs of living, of having no money for spending," said Teerasak Teecayuphan, the mayor of the neighbouring provincial capital of Khon Kaen. "Their patience will gradually run out. Sooner or later this pot will boil over."

Full story: http://in.reuters.com/article/2015/09/30/thailand-politics-idINL4N11T36Y20150930


-- Reuters 2015-10-01

[Usernames]

A collapsing Chinese economy. Perhaps American and European sanctions in the near future. Forget about boiling over. This pot could become a pressure cooker that explodes.

[jaidam]

"when they sell their crop in coming months with rice prices near an 8-year low"

This must be an error. Thaksin - who everyone agrees is a business genius - said his withholding of Thai rice would increase world prices. I - who knows dickall about business - claimed other countries would increase production and when Thai sales resumed would be increased worldwide supply hence lower prices. Seems I know more about business that Dr.T, can somebody give me a telecoms monopoly to play with now?

[stoneyboy]

Finally the Thai people have happiness,peace and tranquility restored,the plan is working well isn't it.

[trogers]

Their economic hardship is self-made, due to their reliance on paddy farming.

Issarn was never suited for growing crops requiring much water, as much of this region is hilly terrain. But cleared the forest and jungle they did to plant rice...

[noitom]

Thais are rolling snake eyes. Alternatively known as "crapping out."

[starky]

This has been coming for a long long time. Even in a feudal society there is only so much shit the poor will eat before the rise up. Probably not a smart move they will never win this battle but eventually something has got to give. I imagine it will be around the time of the event we can't speak of.

[canuckamuck]

It's going to be a hard drought year too.

[Ricardo]

"The removal of generous agricultural subsidies has left rice farmers in northeast Thailand struggling"

Over-generous or totally bananas agricultural subsidies, surely ?

And doesn't the current drought also deserve a mention, or is that also the junta's fault ?

[ratcatcher]

[Tatsujin]

I hope when they really start to protest, that they direct their anger towards the person mostly responsible, the one who screwed them over on the rice scheme and ruined Thailand for years to come, the one who encouraged them all to get into debt and buy new cars, trucks, houses and smartphones, the one who claimed to be doing everything for their benefit. But they won't, cos he's their hero and can do no wrong and it's always someone else's fault.

They might want to start looking at growing alternative crops and different ways of farming rather than repeating the same old tired cycle over and over again hoping for a better result. That's insanity. One of my friends up North has done this, and they're laughing. Diversification, works wonders.

[Somtamnication]

Reminds me of that Carpenters song "We've only just begun". Rising discontent is very worrisome.

[craigt3365]

The whole world economy is collapsing. Can't blame the PM for that. Even if Thaksin was still PM, the economy would be in trouble. He was lucky to be PM during one of the greatest economic expansions in the history of the world. Current PM, not so lucky.

[ramrod711]

"People are complaining about the rising costs of living, of having no money for spending," said Teerasak Teecayuphan, the mayor of the neighbouring provincial capital of Khon Kaen. "Their patience will gradually run out. Sooner or later this pot will boil over."

It is difficult to believe that people in positions of power have learned nothing from the events of the last decade. You can't leave people with no way out, they won't stand for it. With the removal of the Shin dynasty, one would have thought that there was an opportunity to win hearts and minds with thoughtful policies. This will not end well.

[ikke]

Finally the Thai people have happiness,peace and tranquility restored,the plan is working well isn't it.

The Junta always forgot one word in their populist slogan, it should have been : "Bring back happiness to the elite people"

[MaxLee]

A collapsing Chinese economy. Perhaps American and European sanctions in the near future. Forget about boiling over. This pot could become a pressure cooker that explodes.

Yep,..... only a question of time when we go back to the old days where the reds fight off again against the yellows and the innocent bystanders will be the losers of them all

[BKKdreaming]

................. The vast Platinum 168 shopping mall on the outskirts of the provincial capital of Udon Thani was built during the boom, but it is now less than a third occupied and no longer charging tenants rent. .............

can that actually be true ? How do they pay the electric bill etc

[Seastallion]

Blaming the current government for the legacy of the last. They'll never see that, though.

[ezzra]

These are the results of what yeasr and years whereby Thai farmers were relaying on the goverment

to bail them out every time they got in to trubbles, keep feeding the tiger and you cut him lose

he's lost and hungry and turn on his feeder, those policies of handouts and appeasments over

the many years were nothing but a short time remadies......

[Jeremy50]

It's a basic rule of thumb that you need a 50k+ monthly salary in order to buy a new car on credit and run it. Many financial problems in low income Isaan are self inflicted. One hardly sees any red plates in the area now though.

[craigt3365]

It's a basic rule of thumb that you need a 50k+ monthly salary in order to buy a new car on credit and run it. Many financial problems in low income Isaan are self inflicted. One hardly sees any red plates in the area now though.

My maid got a new truck with a very small downpayment. And we pay her WAY less than 50k/month! LOL

[robblok]

They thought loans were gifts, probably what the PTP told them. Now they have to pay back they blame the current government. Instead of changing their ways they are constantly asking for handouts. This is how they are bought by the PTP, and the reason they are angry now. They are not being bribed to vote this time.

They should be helped to change crops, not paying over market price and doing the same stupid thing over and over again. Farming rice does not work but they keep doing it. They say Thailand has a low unemployment rate, let these guys work plenty of immigrants doing work so why can't these guys do the same jobs ?

Sounds almost the same as those living of welfare in my own country, always wanting more and help but not working while others do work.

[worgeordie]

Issan thought the gravy train was going to run forever,and we all know nothing last forever,that's part of Buddhist teachings,so while the money was rolling in from inflated prices for Rice,and the demand for Rubber from China,all was good,no one thought about saving for a rainy day,instead of savings they have debt,

regards Worgeordie

[Seastallion]

These are the results of what yeasr and years whereby Thai farmers were relaying on the goverment

to bail them out every time they got in to trubbles, keep feeding the tiger and you cut him lose

he's lost and hungry and turn on his feeder, those policies of handouts and appeasments over

the many years were nothing but a short time remadies......

Yep.

Short-term remedies. Thailand in a nutshell.

From not investing in good education, to not seeing how non-enforcement of laws makes things worse, to not planning for next year's inevitable floods and drought, to.....drivers continuing to accelerate towards lights that have just turned red.......to unsafe sex....to cheap construction methods, to........

I am happy to report that this is not all Thais. My landlord recently outlined his plans for the future. He's got it all worked out, right down to what his sons will inherit and how much he'll need to retire comfortably. He's working on it, and his wife (my wife's colleague) is on board with the plan. And they are normal working class Thais.

Edited October 1, 2015 by Seastallion

[Hawk]

Its not just the north east that's in trouble its now the whole country!

[gk10002000]

Sadly, the Thai mentality seems very short sighted, with very little future planning. Of course for the average what I would call working class blue collar Thai, planning is probably very difficult if not impossible. The government changes, the constant coups. So many changes historically in countries result in crime, mafia type exploitation, etc.

[Balance]

Blaming the current government for the legacy of the last. They'll never see that, though.

Yes, the basic structural problems have been there for perhaps 200 years or longer. I believe that it is widely accepted that Rama V understood the problems, but given the geopolitical situation the choice was to prevent Thailand from getting carved up by France and England. Since 1932, every government that has come to power has had the primary task of maintaining the ecocomic status quo and ensuring that ALL political control stayed in Bangkok. Nothing was done to develop the rest of the country and make the first attempts to deal with the feudalistic inequality until Thaksin was elected and the cat got out of the bag. The generation of the GDP has to be equally distributed, full stop.

Edited October 1, 2015 by Balance

[Nick167]

Stop complaining! With the Democrats, PRDC, Suthep eventually toppling the corrupted Shinawatras via a military coup, NCPO is bringing happiness to the Aristocrats and the rich Thai Chinese like Boonrawd, CP, Central etc....see at least these people can expand their busineses , buy more land etc.

[jalansanitwong]

Thaksin and Yingluck pulled off one of the biggest con jobs in recent memory. The red shirts and Issan general population all fell for the Robin Hood policies of TRT.

I remember farangs saying that Issan was going to be the next boom place in Thailand..

The Shinawtra family have made a fortune selling 3 baht/minute calls to and from Issan (in the early days) and rice pledge money. 1 trillion baht gone in the rice pledge?

How much money has PM Prayuth and his family stolen over the years? We dont know because he threatened to kill any journalist who investigated his personal wealth.

The rich own this country which is the same as the top 1% own the USA.

The rich get richer with no accountability and the poor get poorer.

The world never changes.

Alot of businesses around me are only trading 5 days a week whereas they normally traded daily. Never seen that before.

People arent spending in Bangkok.

[ratcatcher]

Stop complaining! With the Democrats, PRDC, Suthep eventually toppling the corrupted Shinawatras via a military coup, NCPO is bringing happiness to the Aristocrats and the rich Thai Chinese like Boonrawd, CP, Central etc....see at least these people can expand their busineses , buy more land etc.

Good points, but if there's no-one to buy their beer, food and other crap, what will they do then. The "elite & "hi -so" cannot support the economy alone. They all live in some kind of warm cocoon, oblivious to the struggle of the rest of the population to make ends meet..