InMedia
Contrary to public perception, Thai farmers are honest and do not want to get into debt.
A few months after the price of rice went up this year, the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) received more than 20 billion baht in loan repayments from farmers. This shows farmers are honest; they will promptly repay the BAAC if they can.
In the 1997 financial crisis, 50% of money lent by commercial banks became bad loans. Only 12% of farmers who took BAAC loans could not afford to repay them.
So financial assistance is not the only help government can give farmers. It's easy for government to subsidise produce or guarantee prices, but these practices are often mired in corruption and farmers do not reap the full benefits.
In the long term, the government must provide knowledge and technical know-how to farmers. Let farmers attend training courses on productivity, marketing and research development. With this knowledge, they can find new markets for crops.
The old practice of granting loans and subsidies is no longer relevant. Farmers must be kept abreast of world crop prices so they themselves can decide what to grow.
Farmers must be able to stand on their own feet without relying on state subsidies or offers from giant agro-business corporations.
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