The Department of Internal Trade (DIT) revealed the amount of rice to be auctioned through the Agricultural Future Exchange of Thailand (AFET) has increased to 300,000 tons.

The change came following the cancelled AFET auction on Wednesday when the People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) protesters gathered at the auction venue, cutting off utility supplies from the building in its bid to obstruct the bidding process.

Mr. Somchart Soithong, Director General of the DIT, said the addition is deemed necessary to compensate the lost marketing opportunity while expressing his optimism that more entrepreneurs would participate in the auction on the rescheduled date of March 26th. He reasoned that the rice price may gain its footing due to the fact that severe drought conditions have diminished the output.

He also admitted that auction bidders may be scared away by the PDRC's gathering, thus imploring the protesters not to repeat the incident if they are truly care about the well being of rice farmers, the backbone of the nation.

Source: National News Bureau & Public Relations