Thai farmers to rally at Govt House and round the country

[webfact]

GMO FOOD BILL
Farmers to rally at Govt House and round the country
Chularat Saengpassa,
Pimnara Pradapwit
The Nation



BANGKOK: -- CONSUMER rights and organic farming advocates will rally at Government House today - and in 43 other provinces - to protest against the Biological Safety Bill, which will allow use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) for commercial purposes.

Biothai official Kwanchai Muanying said yesterday his non-governmental organisation planned a symbolic protest to express their objection to the bill, which recently received Cabinet approval, and to "jointly protect their food sovereignty", at their respective city halls at 10am today.

Biothai (www.biothai.net) had earlier put out a poster on Thai social media inviting people to join this movement.

Kwanchai said the demonstrators in Bangkok would submit a petition to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and National Legislative Assembly President Pornpetch Wichitcholchai demanding that approval of the bill be postponed, so all sides can present information and concerns over possible impacts.

"If this government just passed this bill, it would mean the granting of freedom to grow GMO plants," he explained.

He said farmers were concerned most about the fact that the bill has no measures to prevent contamination.

"In Thailand, the requirement for GMO plants to be 200 metres from other farms would make it impossible to say there was no contamination to crops outside," he said. Biothai and its allies would continue to provide information to farmers about the bill because many had very little knowledge about it.

Nanthawan Handee, from an alternative farmers' group in Sanamchai Khet district in Chachoengsao, said her group, established over a decade ago, would join people from public, private and civil sectors in a rally at Chachoengsao City Hall under the banner "Paed Rew Muang Yang Yeun Assembly".

She said if the bill was implemented, it would seriously affect her group, which grows organic plants and rice for export to Europe.

"We obtain a high-class standard certification from the International Foundation for Organic Agriculture and we export rice to food-processing companies to make pasta for sale in Europe," she explained.

"Organic agriculture is the future of the world and Thailand. If the government passes this bill, it will destroy Thai farmers. GMO plants should only be in experimental labs," she said, adding that Thailand had already been affected by GMO papaya contamination and this move would bring about more serious damage.

Foundation for Consumers director Saree Aongsomwang wrote on Facebook that she and network members would certainly attend the symbolic protest at Government House against the bill, which she said had many weak points. They included allowing GMO plant production for commercial purposes and no punishment for biotech businesses whose products turn out to be environmentally harmful.

Meanwhile, Democrat Party member and former Science and Technology Ministry secretary Pumsan Seniwong na Ayuthaya urged the government yesterday to be more sensitive in handling this matter because of public opposition - it should postpone approval for this controversial bill.

He said he would be disappointed if the Science Ministry had made a claim, circulating in media, that GMO plants could exist with normal plants. He urged ministerial executives and people in science not to prioritise research and economic gain while disregarding social impacts and people's health.

He also raised questions for the government and ministry to answer, including who would carry the burden of creating a 200-metre-wide buffer zone and managing the rotation of GMO plants, grown apart from normal crops, and whether there would be a law to control that.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Farmers-to-rally-at-Govt-House-and-round-the-count-30274541.html


-- The Nation 2015-12-09

[silverado]

long life monsanto , the world poisoner N° 1

Edited December 8, 2015 by silverado

[Mango Bob]

So is the government and military going to stop the train bring the farmers to Bangkok. Or maybe block their trackers from entering the city.

[jaywalker]

A general in a pink shirt with a rent-a-mob will protect the government junta.

Edited December 8, 2015 by jaywalker

[EnglishJohn]

So is the government and military going to stop the train bring the farmers to Bangkok. Or maybe block their trackers from entering the city.

I don't expect so because these are real protesters with a real reason to go out.

Not gullible children sent out by some coward hiding back at home who are saying they are protesting against corruption when in fact the sole purpose is political activism.

Red shirts can't even tell the truth about why they are protesting. Is there a shred of honesty in any of them ?.

I wonder if you can actually see the difference or not. My guess is yes, but you are made of the same stuff as they are and are pretending something else because it suits you.

ps. It's tractors, not trackers. Just sayin' to help you look a bit more literate next time.

[15Peter20]

I was gonna say they're going to shut Bangkok down for maintenance but the chance would be a fine thing.

[clockman]

First find out who gets the brown envelopes, from Monsanto?

[Valentine]

These farmers need all the support they can get to stop this bill. I wonder who the Monsanto lobbyist is in this country. Find him & see who he is close to & there you may find a money trail. Monsanto could well turn out to be the biggest mass murderer in history (hark back to the tobacco industry which knew about the harmful effects long before it became public). In some places like the US farmers cannot even sue them for contaminating their crops. Mr Prayut would do the country a huge favour by pushing organic farming & keeping the likes of Monsanto out.

[mancub]

So is the government and military going to stop the train bring the farmers to Bangkok. Or maybe block their trackers from entering the city.

I don't expect so because these are real protesters with a real reason to go out.

Not gullible children sent out by some coward hiding back at home who are saying they are protesting against corruption when in fact the sole purpose is political activism.

Red shirts can't even tell the truth about why they are protesting. Is there a shred of honesty in any of them ?.

I wonder if you can actually see the difference or not. My guess is yes, but you are made of the same stuff as they are and are pretending something else because it suits you.

ps. It's tractors, not trackers. Just sayin' to help you look a bit more literate next time.

It's "saying", actually.

[simon43]

For the life of me, I cannot understand why a certain forum member has not been banned for 'trolling' ...

[tuanku]

So is the government and military going to stop the train bring the farmers to Bangkok. Or maybe block their trackers from entering the city.

I don't expect so because these are real protesters with a real reason to go out.

Not gullible children sent out by some coward hiding back at home who are saying they are protesting against corruption when in fact the sole purpose is political activism.

Red shirts can't even tell the truth about why they are protesting. Is there a shred of honesty in any of them ?.

I wonder if you can actually see the difference or not. My guess is yes, but you are made of the same stuff as they are and are pretending something else because it suits you.

ps. It's tractors, not trackers. Just sayin' to help you look a bit more literate next time.

any person or group protesting about mis-government, corruption and/or the erosion of their democratic and human rights has a real reason to go out.

Odd seeing the use of the word gullible applied BY you TO someone else

[dageurreotype]

For the life of me, I cannot understand why a certain forum member has not been banned for 'trolling' ...

Perversely it's because he's allowed to spout whatever he wants under the democratic right to freedom of speech he constantly derides.

[silverado]

These farmers need all the support they can get to stop this bill. I wonder who the Monsanto lobbyist is in this country. Find him & see who he is close to & there you may find a money trail. Monsanto could well turn out to be the biggest mass murderer in history (hark back to the tobacco industry which knew about the harmful effects long before it became public). In some places like the US farmers cannot even sue them for contaminating their crops. Mr Prayut would do the country a huge favour by pushing organic farming & keeping the likes of Monsanto out.

"hark back to the tobacco industry..." AND back also from more than a century to : DDT, PCBs, Agent Orange, recombinant bovine somatotropin , Roundup , and somany others......

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsanto

if the mods allowed me to post some pics of the Monsanto's victims around the world , i would hope that some members here would be disgusted ....

Edited December 9, 2015 by silverado

[silverado]

First find out who gets the brown envelopes, from Monsanto?

i'm gonna help you... just imagine our "Heil general" in the pic...

[baboon]

For the life of me, I cannot understand why a certain forum member has not been banned for 'trolling' ...

I wouldn't label him a troll, just an angry and stubborn man who refuses to acknowledge there is more than one side to any story he has already made his mind up about. There are plenty like him wherever you go.