The Prime Minister said that the Government would explain its rice-pledging
policy at any forums possible in order to create better understanding about the
scheme, which is intended to benefit farmers.
The rice-pledging scheme was an issue raised by the Opposition in its
censure debate against Prime Minister Yingluck and her administration on 25-27
November 2012, followed by the vote on the censure motion on 28 November.
The opposition alleged that the scheme would destroy market mechanism and
the Government would lose a lot of money in subsidizing the scheme, which also
has loopholes for irregularities and corruption. It raised doubts over a
government-to-government rice deal, as well, saying that it was intended to
benefit certain companies.
Prime Minister Yingluck explained that the scheme was carried out in order
to provide income security for farmers. The Government has spent 410 billion
baht on the scheme, and it received 21 million tons of paddy, equivalent to 11
million tons of rice. Today the rice price has increased by 8 percent. It is
expected that 210 billion baht will go back to the Ministry of Finance by the
end of 2013.
As Chairperson of the National Rice Policy Committee, the Prime Minister
told responsible ministers not to sell rice at a lower price than the buying
price. In order to prevent corruption, she said, a committee, comprising
members from many sectors, had been set up to look into the scheme.
Closed-circuit television cameras have been installed at various silos
participating in the project.
The Prime Minister said that she had assigned Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm
Ubumrung to receive complaints on corruption cases and conduct investigations.
Commerce Minister Boonsong Teriyapirom was assigned to look after a rice
release each time.
She pointed out that although Thailand had lost its status as the largest
rice exporter in the world, Thai rice was sold at a higher price on average
than that of neighboring countries. The Government wants to see higher value of
Thai rice.
A report shows that, from January to October 2012, Thailand ranked third
among the world’s largest rice exporters, coming after Vietnam and India. In
terms of value, Thai rice was sold at 679 US dollars a ton, compared with 445
dollars a ton sold by Vietnam.
Minister Boonsong earlier urged the people not to be too worried about the
chance that Thailand might lose its status as the world's number one rice
exporter. In his view, the important point is how to provide farmers with
better living conditions. He said that the Government had launched the
rice-mortgage scheme, so that farmers would earn more from their rice
production, thus enabling them to ease their debts and improve their quality of
life.
(thailand.prd.go.th)