THAILAND: Back off, PM tells rubber farmers

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has asked rubber farmers not to try and pressure the government into providing them with subsidies by staging rallies. In response to falling rubber prices, farmers have called on the government to guarantee a price of Bt50-60 per kg.

Government spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd said 9 Jan. 2016 the Prayut administration does not have the Bt140 billion needed to subsidize farmers at that price range.  He said rallies won't help as the government does not have the money for subsidies. He also said the PM does not believe subsidies would tackle problems in the industry at the root causes. The government also has to take care of millions of farmers who grow other crops, he said.

Sansern said rubber prices have dropped due to falling oil prices and rubber oversupply due to a wrong policy to promote rubber plantations. He said the government has been solving the oversupply problem by using rubber for the construction of roads and stadiums but this takes time. He added that the government would help ensure that rubber prices would not plunge further and is driving 18 measures which it believes are sustainable solutions to these woes. The spokesman pointed out that some rubber farmers would be better off by switching to other crops as suggested by the government.

In Trang, Pratob Suksanan, chairman of the Southern Rubber Farmers network, led rubber farm leaders from the South at a press conference. Pratob said the network would soon hold a meeting in Trang in a bid to pressure the government to meet their four demands. They called on the government to reveal details of deals signed by the Rubber Authority of Thailand with China for 200,000 tons of rubber. They also want the government to appoint the Rubber Authority of Thailand board, and for the government to keep its word by giving rubber farmers Bt1,500 per rai for a maximum of 15 rai. The government has paid only 2,000 farmers, they claimed.

Farmers demanded that the PM and Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives Minister Pitipong Phuengboon na Ayudhaya directly hear complaints from farmers and not to send representatives to discuss problems with them.

Pratob said the farmers are upset by the PM's remark about the rubber oversupply. He added that farmers would decide the timeframe for the government to solve each problem and how to step up their demands.

Source: Daily “The Nation”, Bangkok; 10 Jan 2016
(Syed Rashid Ali, Karachi, Pakistan)