Protesting farmers have asked the government to extend the rice-pledging period. They have also opposed an idea of rice price guarantee out of concerns over the scheme's efficiency.
This morning, Thai Farmers' Association President Wichien Puanglamjiak and a group of about 100 farmers nationwide submitted a petition to the Commerce Minister's secretary Praphol Milindhachinda.
They asked the government to extend the pledging period for off-season rice because farmers are currently harvesting crops and around one million tons of rice is expected to hit the market in July.
They have also opposed an idea to impose price guarantees instead of pledging programs, reasoning that the government has already failed to run some similar projects effectively, so it should not intervene in crop prices, thus putting more burden on farmers.
Internal Trade Department Director-General Yanyong Puangrat earlier revealed that the government has decided to procure an additional 1.5 million tons of rice under the rice-pledging scheme from 2.5 million tons to 4 million tons but the quota is already nearly full with farmers offering 3.6 million tons so far. Consequently, the department is planning to put an end to the pledging program next week.
The idea of farm price guarantees is to reduce the state's expenditure. The government insisted that it will put all its efforts into overseeing crop prices to minimize the economic impact on farmers.
