Thailand will face a rice shortage if the Commerce Ministry breaches the Cabinet's instructions and continues selling off its stockpile to exporters.

Since the floods began, the Cabinet told the ministry to stop selling off the rice to ensure there is enough left for domestic consumption. However, the ministry sold about 150,000 tonnes of rice to Chia Meng and HBD Habidah last week.

HBD Habidah, which is allegedly owned by a politician, was granted 144,830 tonnes of rice, while Chia Meng, Thailand's leading exporters of rice, handled the remainder.

On October 26, the Cabinet told the ministry to stop selling the government's rice stocks, but the sale continued with the approval of Deputy Prime Minister Trairong Suwankhiri, who is deputy chairman of the National Rice Policy Committee.

A rice trader said this suspect deal would cause problems for the government later, adding that the exact figure for the loss of this year's crop has not been determined yet.

It is reported that the government has less than 2 million tonnes of rice in its stockpile after 3.16 million tonnes was sold between July and October. The source said it is believed that the production of rice this year would be a lot lower than the average 2324 million tonnes produced yearly.

In addition, the source noted that the Nong Lanka Farm, a company own by former adviser to the Commerce Minister, Boonying Nitikanchana, has won the bid to purchase 7,000 tonnes of rice from the ministry.

Source: The Nation