Rubber growers to increase pressure over govt 'inaction' on falling prices

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Rubber growers to increase pressure over govt 'inaction' on falling prices
By THE NATION

 

File photo

 

BANGKOK: -- RUBBER GROWERS in the South have stepped up pressure on Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to issue a junta order to help shore up the sagging prices of natural rubber.

 

The growers planned to take part in different forums on the matter to be held in many provinces in the South over the next few days, where they would discuss their idea, Thanomkiat Yingchuan, secretary of the Network of Southern Rubber Growers, said yesterday.

 

He said the rubber growers have decided to step up pressure after it seemed the government was not serious about tackling the problem of falling rubber prices.

 

Thanomkiat also said that rubber growers in the South had petitioned all levels of authorities – the provincial authorities, the Rubber Authority of Thailand, the Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives, as well as Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan, in addition to other relevant state agencies.

 

“But we failed to get their attention. And the rubber prices continue to nosedive every day,” he said, adding that the price of rubber latex has now declined to Bt38-40 a kilogram.

 

“That is unacceptable to the rubber growers. We are now ready to take part in all the forums that will be held in the next few days,” he added.

 

Thanomkiat said his group had urged Prayut, in his capacity as head of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), to issue an order under Article 44 of the interim charter to require state agencies to use more natural rubber, particularly in road construction.

 

More local consumption needed

 

The NCPO’s wide-ranging power under Article 44 has been retained under the new Constitution.

 

Thanomkiat said there should be more local consumption for the surplus rubber output and that state agencies would be able to help best in absorbing the supply. In response to the fact that the cost of rubber in road construction is higher than the usual content, he argued that rubber was more durable than the normal content.

 

“We are not calling for natural rubber to be used in 100 per cent of the roads to be constructed. We just want rubber to be used in some 10,000 square kilometres of road areas a year, which is equal to about 100,000 tonnes of rubber,” he said.

 

“State agencies should be encouraged to use more rubber from local production. This is what the prime minister and his government have to do to help reduce the local supply,” Thanomkiat added.

 

Meanwhile, the Network of Rubber Grower Groups of Thailand has voiced its support to the call for Prayut to issue an order under Article 44 to help solve the problem of declining rubber prices, according to the group’s public relations official Prayoonsak Khananurak.

 

He said the government should help boost domestic demand by encouraging more use of rubber in construction of asphalt roads.

 

Rubber growers all over the country will be hanging banners at their places with messages calling for Prayut to issue an order under Article 44 to help prop up the rubber prices, Prayoonsak said.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/national/30320318

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-07-10

 

[jaywalker]

Oh yeah! Let's regulate supply and demand! That worked out really well with Yingluck & her rice idea didn't it?

[smedly]

not familiar with rubber but what do they expect the government to do about falling prices ?

 

what I suspect is the real problem is the value of the baht which is being allowed to run for those greedy people that need it too, Thailand relies on exports and that includes tourism which is an export even though it happens on Thai soil it involves foreign currency, the government need to intervene now and start to serve the real Thai economy (which is not foreign investment for a few wealthy people) and instead concentrate on getting the baht down, it is hurting the economy, although a strong currency sounds like something good - it really is not especially for Thailand

 

you want to trade with who ? sorry but way too expensive...........................waken up

[Thechook]

Yea let's increase the price of Thai rubber and then complain when nobody buys it.  Maybe they could ask Prayuth to whip out his little Article 44 wand and order the international community to buy only expensive thai rubber.  The only thing prayuth can do for you is pen you a poem.

Edited July 10, 2017 by Thechook

[ben2talk]

I'm sure they'll bounce back soon.

[robblok]

Again farmers wanting a handout.. when you start with rice farmers everyone will ask about it. Just can't be done its too expensive the rice program has shown this. 

 

Its always farmers, there are a lot of other poor people too but they don't get helped because farmers are far more vocal and militant. (not to mention a nice voting block)

[weegee]

If it was a food source for the people, sure I would agree the government should (and does) be helping.

 

But this is Rubber, and those who raced in and planted rai after rai of it, have to face the fact that, the price is controlled by world markets....Not a concern for the government...The farmers went into this line of business, and have to accept the ups and downs, without forcing the government to support their private business ventures....

 

 

Edited July 10, 2017 by weegee

[Eric Loh]

Natural rubber has been hit by a few unfortunate demand impediment in the last few years. China which has been the largest buyer of natural rubber for automobile slowed down in tandem with their economy. The steep drop in oil price help the synthetic rubber to eat into natural rubber market share. The over supply drove the price down further.

 

I think there are merits for government to help rubber cooperatives to stock up and  providing some reliefs in terms of soft loans to farmers and cooperatives. Natural rubber global demand is projected to trend up with more affluency which will drive up automobile purchases and tires. Non automobile demand for industry and medical applications are expected to increase. 

[tracker1]

Thailand killing itself ! No sex tourism equals no condoms no rubber sold  !

[seajae]

when people plant a crop it is not the govts job to ensure they get top dollar for it yet here in Thailand farmers expect them to guarantee them high returns. When will these people take responsibility for their own crops, they chose what to plant, the prices are set by the markets they sell to not the govt yet when the prices drop they start screaming. Until they start to realize that if the prices drop it is totally on them nothing will change, for some reason thais think that they are a protected species and are not prone to market forces etc like all other countries, time for them to grow up, cant make the money you want to then sell your farms or grow a different crop and stop whinging

[choff56]

Ganja.

[cooked]

20 minutes ago, seajae said:

when people plant a crop it is not the govts job to ensure they get top dollar for it yet here in Thailand farmers expect them to guarantee them high returns. When will these people take responsibility for their own crops, they chose what to plant, the prices are set by the markets they sell to not the govt yet when the prices drop they start screaming. Until they start to realize that if the prices drop it is totally on them nothing will change, for some reason thais think that they are a protected species and are not prone to market forces etc like all other countries, time for them to grow up, cant make the money you want to then sell your farms or grow a different crop and stop whinging

The government actively encouraged people to plant rubber, along with encouraging them to destroy forest land and doing away with traditional rubber growing methods that were much more environment friendly.

Sound familiar?

[robblok]

1 minute ago, Father Fintan Stack said:

The rubber farmers have been subsidised for a lot longer than rice farmers.

But I doubt they got as much as the rice farmers.. but anyway I am against keeping farmers / companies afloat with government money without change and prospect on better times. Its just a total waste.. if a government helps a farmer and he changes and becomes profitable.. sure then its money well spend. But if it keeps the farmer relying on handouts then its not fair to the rest of the poor people who don't get handouts like this. 

 

I am all for helping people to become self sufficient and helping people to startup a business but not endless subsidizing of failed projects. 

[inThailand]

Artificially prompting up rubber prices, is that vote buying like with the rice scheme?

 

We may need these votes if we ever hold an election.

[Eric Loh]

9 minutes ago, Father Fintan Stack said:

I wonder which incompetent General will be charged when the rubber farmers start topping themselves over low prices?

No government in the world has been charged for subsidizing agriculture crops or non agricultural items like fuel or electricity. That should include incompetent general. 

 

Agriculture crop prices are inelastic in demand and supply and also in production (drought and flood) and will prices will fluctuate wildly. It affect a large population and it is highly political. Subsidies are wasteful but totally necessary; Unfortunately. 

[BLACKJACK2]

1 hour ago, seajae said:

when people plant a crop it is not the govts job to ensure they get top dollar for it yet here in Thailand farmers expect them to guarantee them high returns. When will these people take responsibility for their own crops, they chose what to plant, the prices are set by the markets they sell to not the govt yet when the prices drop they start screaming. Until they start to realize that if the prices drop it is totally on them nothing will change, for some reason thais think that they are a protected species and are not prone to market forces etc like all other countries, time for them to grow up, cant make the money you want to then sell your farms or grow a different crop and stop whinging

'like all other countries' you mean the whole of the EU with the common agricultural policy.

[robblok]

25 minutes ago, Father Fintan Stack said:

It is called subsidy and it is often necessary to keep an industry competitive.

 

Keeping the rubber industry competitive is imperative for any Thai government as it is a major Thai industry and will have massive repercussions if it collapses.

 

This government is busy repeating the mistakes made in the 90's by the Dems looks like. Economic policy an unmitigated disaster so far. Interesting to note the Dems are still unelectable 20 years on directly as a result of those failed policies.

 

I wonder which incompetent General will be charged when the rubber farmers start topping themselves over low prices?

 

 

 

 

Nice deflection from the topic.. ill only discuss the topic.

 

Sure sometimes its needed to subsidize a bit but only if a industry is viable and competitive. If that is not the case its a bottomless pit. You can't just keep handing out money without a reform / change.. small scale farming is not viable on the long term.  

[robblok]

4 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

No government in the world has been charged for subsidizing agriculture crops or non agricultural items like fuel or electricity. That should include incompetent general. 

 

Agriculture crop prices are inelastic in demand and supply and also in production (drought and flood) and will prices will fluctuate wildly. It affect a large population and it is highly political. Subsidies are wasteful but totally necessary; Unfortunately. 

I disagree, at some point you have to say enough is enough.. this is not working. We had the same in my country we kept supporting an airline builder even though it was not viable.. in the end it went down anyway. You can't just waste taxpayers money on one group and exclude others its unfair. 

 

Its all nice if its once in a while.. if its chronic... forget about it. Small scale farming is going to end.. its just not going to work. 

[dick dasterdly]

Knowing nothing about the rubber industry, this topic nonetheless gives me a chance to air a 'pet' gripe!

 

Why on earth is it so hard to find shoes/sandals (even comfortable/attractive flip flops) with rubber soles here???

 

Rubber soles are FAR less 'slippy' than other materials, and rubber is produced in vast quantities here in Thailand!

[Chang_paarp]

If the Thai Baht was allowed to drop a little both the rice and the rubber farmers would get a price rise in THB. Providing the improved price in THB is allowed to trickle down to them. As a by product the tourist industry would see an improvement.

[SOUTHERNSTAR]

1 hour ago, robblok said:

But I doubt they got as much as the rice farmers.. but anyway I am against keeping farmers / companies afloat with government money without change and prospect on better times. Its just a total waste.. if a government helps a farmer and he changes and becomes profitable.. sure then its money well spend. But if it keeps the farmer relying on handouts then its not fair to the rest of the poor people who don't get handouts like this. 

 

I am all for helping people to become self sufficient and helping people to startup a business but not endless subsidizing of failed projects. 

Robbolk I agree with you but unfortunately Thai governments like to meddle with farmers. These farmers was told to plant rubber by government officials and politicians and now that the price is down the farmers is asking for help because they acted on government advice. Take the case of the present government who advised farmers to plant corn and not rice. The corn price dropped last year and is expected to drop again this year. Governments should not advise farmers to plant any specific crop. What government should do is to enforce existing laws to prevent farmers from planting crop is areas where there should be no tilling done (Nan, MHS and Phetchabun mountain tops). When these sensitive areas is taken out of production there will be less over supply. Secondly government should educate the farmers in modern production techniques/farming. Thirdly the government should invest in improved infrastructure and fixing existing infrastructure. At present 30% on irrigation water gets lost due to canal leakages. Fourthly the government should assist farmers to integrate their operations downstream. For example in farmers own their own mill they can increase their profit margin without subsidies. Fifth at last they should enable successful farmers to grow and for the unsuccessful ones to leave farming. 

[robblok]

10 minutes ago, SOUTHERNSTAR said:

Robbolk I agree with you but unfortunately Thai governments like to meddle with farmers. These farmers was told to plant rubber by government officials and politicians and now that the price is down the farmers is asking for help because they acted on government advice. Take the case of the present government who advised farmers to plant corn and not rice. The corn price dropped last year and is expected to drop again this year. Governments should not advise farmers to plant any specific crop. What government should do is to enforce existing laws to prevent farmers from planting crop is areas where there should be no tilling done (Nan, MHS and Phetchabun mountain tops). When these sensitive areas is taken out of production there will be less over supply. Secondly government should educate the farmers in modern production techniques/farming. Thirdly the government should invest in improved infrastructure and fixing existing infrastructure. At present 30% on irrigation water gets lost due to canal leakages. Fourthly the government should assist farmers to integrate their operations downstream. For example in farmers own their own mill they can increase their profit margin without subsidies. Fifth at last they should enable successful farmers to grow and for the unsuccessful ones to leave farming. 

Yes, you are posting what I mean... helping farmers making sure the infrastructure is there. Helping them becoming self sufficient and not relying on handouts (its ok when its once in a while but not when its structural).

 

Yes do help help farmers to leave farming and help the successful ones too.. but the constant handouts are just a waste.

 

What you are writing down is how my government is doing it, they did so with fishermen. Buy up quota buy up ships to let them leave so the successful stayed ect. That is different then handing out money every year with no plan at all. But maybe that is the plan.. keep them dependent and they vote for you.. 

[just.a.thought]

While they are at it they could add a thicker layer of asphal to the road surface out here in the country side. Our local resurfacing company annual fixes our 5 year old road by dumping sand and gravel in the thousands of potholes and the spraying the mixture with hot tar. That's what you call a steady job,the owner of this sweet deal now lives it the biggest house in the area,wonder where the money for asphalt went? It is very rare the money ends up where it was intended, no matter who you try to help.

Edited July 10, 2017 by just.a.thought

[Eric Loh]

46 minutes ago, robblok said:

I disagree, at some point you have to say enough is enough.. this is not working. We had the same in my country we kept supporting an airline builder even though it was not viable.. in the end it went down anyway. You can't just waste taxpayers money on one group and exclude others its unfair. 

 

Its all nice if its once in a while.. if its chronic... forget about it. Small scale farming is going to end.. its just not going to work. 

Just how many countries will go the New Zealand way and banned all agriculture subsidies. The reality is that is too much vested interest in governments whether developed or developing countries to continue their subsidy programs. We hear of "too big to fail" excuses to support inefficient banks or corporations. We will very likely to continue to see this happening again and again. 

 

Small farms are are not necessary inefficient. It just need the government to train them to organize the workspace to be efficient and practical and use of organic fertilizer and better crop rotation. Thailand has a large population of small farms which are family owned and they just need better training and education to be more productive and efficient .

[robblok]

3 hours ago, Eric Loh said:

Just how many countries will go the New Zealand way and banned all agriculture subsidies. The reality is that is too much vested interest in governments whether developed or developing countries to continue their subsidy programs. We hear of "too big to fail" excuses to support inefficient banks or corporations. We will very likely to continue to see this happening again and again. 

 

Small farms are are not necessary inefficient. It just need the government to train them to organize the workspace to be efficient and practical and use of organic fertilizer and better crop rotation. Thailand has a large population of small farms which are family owned and they just need better training and education to be more productive and efficient .

These are initiatives that i applaud.. but not the constant handouts without change.

 

In my country they subsidise a bit too.. but at the same time buy out farmers that are to small and need to stop. They use subsidies to change a situation.. not keep it the same and people dependent on them. 

[oldlakey]

7 hours ago, dick dasterdly said:

Knowing nothing about the rubber industry, this topic nonetheless gives me a chance to air a 'pet' gripe!

 

Why on earth is it so hard to find shoes/sandals (even comfortable/attractive flip flops) with rubber soles here???

 

Rubber soles are FAR less 'slippy' than other materials, and rubber is produced in vast quantities here in Thailand!

Its way too expensive

 

[Grubster]

15 hours ago, jaywalker said:

Oh yeah! Let's regulate supply and demand! That worked out really well with Yingluck & her rice idea didn't it?

Why not, they regulate the production of cars and anything else the Hi-Sos are making a killing on. Asphalt is made with foreign oil instead of the home grown superior product rubber. Tires too. Makes good sense to me to take care of your own.

[Grubster]

9 hours ago, robblok said:

But I doubt they got as much as the rice farmers.. but anyway I am against keeping farmers / companies afloat with government money without change and prospect on better times. Its just a total waste.. if a government helps a farmer and he changes and becomes profitable.. sure then its money well spend. But if it keeps the farmer relying on handouts then its not fair to the rest of the poor people who don't get handouts like this. 

 

I am all for helping people to become self sufficient and helping people to startup a business but not endless subsidizing of failed projects. 

As a country you need to protect the resources you have, if you don't shore up the things that your country is capable of producing then you will put millions out of work and you will be left with a much harder decision to make, like do we kill them, let them starve, give them welfare checks or what.

[robblok]

7 minutes ago, Grubster said:

As a country you need to protect the resources you have, if you don't shore up the things that your country is capable of producing then you will put millions out of work and you will be left with a much harder decision to make, like do we kill them, let them starve, give them welfare checks or what.

Yes you should protect your resources... now if they are used unwisely.. given the fact that the neighboring countries produce more per rai and at a lower cost.. then you see that your system is failing. Then you should act.. not give handouts and let the situation go on. There was a nice article.. been a while that Vietnam and laos all produced more per rai and cheaper. 

 

So we know now that its not going right and we need to change to stay competitive.. and the way it is now we are not competitive. And please show me those starving people in Thailand your talking about.. its nice to be dramatic but only if you can back it up.

[Grubster]

2 minutes ago, robblok said:

Yes you should protect your resources... now if they are used unwisely.. given the fact that the neighboring countries produce more per rai and at a lower cost.. then you see that your system is failing. Then you should act.. not give handouts and let the situation go on. There was a nice article.. been a while that Vietnam and laos all produced more per rai and cheaper. 

 

So we know now that its not going right and we need to change to stay competitive.. and the way it is now we are not competitive. And please show me those starving people in Thailand your talking about.. its nice to be dramatic but only if you can back it up.

Until recently most farmers have done ok farming here in Thailand, Growing rice more efficiently means a few things, More fertilizers and pesticides, a lower world market price, expensive machinery meaning big debt. If you think they can produce natural fertilizer at an equal or lower price you are way wrong. Rice here has to be sold on the world market as does rubber so if you shore up the price you can continue to produce it, if not think of something else. I think of a country like a family, you help each other out as you can. Can a farmer here buy a cheap car from Taiwan or elsewhere? NO. Why? because the government protects the rich people here making cars and everything else. The rich fall down crying if they have to help the farmer. Sad

   My neighbors here don't have shoes to wear but I think they get enough to eat with bugs and dogs filling the void.