The Commerce Ministry says it will more than double the number of its mobile units for buying paddy from rice growers in response to a Bangkok protest staged by farmers from the central provinces.

About 300 farmers from the Central Plains provinces staged a rally yesterday morning in front of the 11th Infantry Regiment in Bangkok's Bang Khen district, where Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is currently based, to protest against the low price of rice paddy.

About 30 pickup trucks and three buses were used to transport the protesters to the regiment, where security was tight during the rally.

The farmers, who initially called on Mr Abhisit to personally accept their petition, dispersed after a government officer came out to receive the letter.

They called on the government to guarantee a price of 12,000 baht a tonne of paddy with 15% moisture content, up from 9,292 baht currently, and increase the maximum guaranteed amount to 40 tonnes a farmer from 25 tonnes.

Permanent secretary for commerce Yanyong Phuangrach said while the new price insurance policy had forced the market price of paddy to rise by 200 to 300 baht a tonne, the ministry would increase the number of its mobile paddy-buying units to make it easier for farmers to sell their crops to the government directly.

The ministry would this week add another 126 mobile units across 25 provinces to the current 96 units, he said.

Mr Yanyong said about 1.5 million tonnes of paddy purchased by the ministry during the past harvest remained unsold. Farmers from the South were also demanding government assistance.

Suthep Chusri, who leads a group of rice growers from Ranot district in Songkhla, said local farmers were being severely affected by declining paddy prices.

The Commerce Ministry had four buying units in the district, but these were not operational as there was nowhere to store additional paddy.

"If the farmers sell the paddy to private rice millers, they [millers] will buy our paddy at a low price of just 5,600 baht a tonne," he said.

There are about 400 tonnes of harvested paddy waiting to be sold in Ranot district, and the farmers would suffer a huge loss if the government refused to help them, he said.

"About 400 farmers in Ranot will hold a rally at the house of Deputy Interior Minister Thaworn Senneam [Democrat MP for Songkhla] in Hat Yai tomorrow if the government does not respond to our demand," Mr Suthep said.

Source: Bangkok Post