Circumstances make a hero. The old saying applies to some extent in the case of Chutima Bunyapraphasara, who entered the limelight last September when she signed an administrative order demanding 20 billion baht in compensation from former commerce minister Boonsong Teriyapirom and five associates involved in fake government-to-government rice deals with two fictitious Chinese firms.
She signed on behalf of Commerce Minister Apiradi Tantraporn, a move that drew sharp criticism from those saying the minister lacked Ms Chutima's political courage.
Ms Chutima won the plaudits, though the commerce minister herself shortly thereafter agreed to sign the administrative order on behalf of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, who had earlier invoked Section 44 of the interim constitution to protect officials when executing their duties, notably when demanding compensation from officials who have caused damage to the state -- in this case, the bogus government-to-government rice deals and the corruption-plagued rice-pledging scheme of former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
The two "iron ladies" who had spent nearly their entire working lives at the Commerce Ministry were fully aware of the possible consequences they might face in the future, when the current government is out of office, for their unenviable but praiseworthy actions despite the protective cover of S44.
Ms Chutima has something in common with Mrs Apiradi: both were unceremoniously downgraded during the 2011 government of Abhisit Vejjajiva.
Ms Chutima displays pledged rice before calling auctions.
Mrs Apiradi had spent nearly all her working life at the Commerce Ministry. But before her second political life, her last post was as deputy permanent secretary in the Foreign Trade Department after a reassignment from director-general in 2011.
Ms Chutima, meanwhile, was moved to serve as inspector-general of the Commerce Ministry from her previous post as director-general of the Internal Trade Department.
Many critics saw the transfers as official demotions and unwarranted, particularly in the case of Mrs Apiradi, as she was already set to retire in a few months.
Worse yet, Ms Chutima would end up serving as inspector-general for almost five years, despite the fact that she is widely known to be a tough negotiator and business planner, who had headed the Trade Negotiations Department, the Foreign Trade Department and the Internal Trade Department before her demotion.
Ms Chutima became well known when she signed an order seeking compensation from parties accused of involvement in bogus rice sales.
She has also been lauded by the private sector in terms of working, strategic planning and tackling problems not only in the agricultural sector, but in other spheres as well.
To name just a few of her accolades, Ms Chutima played a key role in Thailand's accession to the World Trade Organization and engaged in extensive negotiations with the European Union on market access and quota allocations for frozen chicken. She has been appointed Thailand's chief negotiator for various free-trade agreements with Australia, New Zealand, Peru and the EU, and represented Thailand as chair of the Asean Committee.
Ms Chutima has also lectured extensively in international trade law and has taken up various positions, including chairman of the working committee on the release of agricultural products under the government intervention programme; adviser to the Federation of Thai Industries' subcommittee on trade rules; adviser to the Thai National Shippers' Council; and member of the Thai Chamber of Commerce's board committee for the promotion of economic and trade activity with neighbouring countries.
Critics during that period lambasted the reshuffle and apparent scapegoating; Ms Chutima admits that she doesn't know the reason behind the move, though she did feel that such treatment was unfair.
During a later probe conducted by the ministry to determine whether she had shirked her duties or otherwise committed any offence, it was found that Ms Chutima had done nothing wrong.
She was widely encouraged to file a complaint and sue for unfair treatment, but Ms Chutima insists she was not discouraged professionally by all that transpired.
"I personally think, no matter what position you are in, every civil servant can benefit the country," she says.
But Ms Chutima herself admits it's not always easy to take the high road when suffering unjust treatment.
"You've got to restrain your mind to think only about the present, stay focused, better your life management skills and study more," she says. "The Buddha's teachings (Dhamma) and consultations with revered monks have also helped me get over hard times."
Ms Chutima says the Buddha's teachings and consultations with monks have helped her through hard times.
Ms Chutima says her years working as the inspector-general served as a key turning point in her life and professional trajectory, as she was given ample opportunities to perform on-site inspections in the provinces and gather primary data about local people and how farmers actually live.
"I admit that from childhood to adulthood, I never faced any hardships," she says. "And once I'd worked for the Commerce Ministry, I worked in jobs that are related to foreign affairs and travelled to a lot of countries. But once I got more in touch with people in the provinces and farmers in rural areas who are poverty-stricken, I was deeply struck by their distressed eyes and thought to myself, it's time for me to do more to help my beleaguered compatriots."
Ms Chutima was born into a well-off family, as her late father, a former chief justice of the Supreme Court, had invested a lot in acquiring a number of plots in the Phra Khanong area, where land prices have surged because of urbanisation.
In 2007 she would take part in executive training courses offered by the National Defence College, though with little enthusiasm at first.
As luck (or fate) would have it, those classes were being attended by current Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and Agriculture Minister Chatchai Sarikulya.
After her later tribulations, Ms Chutima's fortunes saw an upturn in 2014, when the National Council for Peace and Order, chaired by Gen Prayut, took over the reins of power after a military coup and appointed her as permanent secretary for commerce, replacing Srirat Rastapana.
"It's only fate that plays the real tricks," she says. "My life sounds incredible. After five years in the same idle position, I never thought I'd find redemption and reach the highest post for civil servants in the Commerce Ministry before becoming deputy agriculture minister."
Ms Chutima is among five newcomers after the government's cabinet reshuffle made in December last year. She is also one among four in charge of economic affairs, the others being Deputy Transport Minister Pichit Akrathit, Deputy Commerce Minister Sonthirat Sonthijirawong and Industry Minister Uttama Savanayana.
The other newcomer is Deputy Foreign Minister Virasakdi Futrakul.
Ms Chutima thanks the "angels" who offered her a shot at redemption and a good chance to exercise her knowledge, long-accrued experience and expertise for the benefit of the country. She remains committed to doing her best to produce concrete results during her tenure.
Ms Chutima and farmers harvest riceberry at a plantation in Bung Kan's Sri Wilai district.
With the new and more challenging tasks, Ms Chutima says she's also committed to pushing up integrated development for rice, facilitating farm product innovation and helping bring added value to Thai farm products.
The farm product innovation institute is a particular passion, as this institute, she says, will be instrumental in not only raising income for farmers, but also saving state funds, as the government has been forced to intervene in the market to shore up falling prices.
She also longs to set up a foundation that gathers "good-hearted and humanitarian-minded people" who want to work for the country across numerous areas, including reconciliation, peace and a more prosperous society.
Nonetheless, as the deputy agriculture minister, she also vows to ramp up the rice megafarm scheme, for which the ministry is providing soft loans, machinery and agricultural equipment to farmers in order to cut production costs and raise productivity, with the aim of covering 1.05 million rai of related farmland this year.
Last August, the cabinet approved 3.25 billion baht worth of lending packages via the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives for megafarm projects during 2017-19.
Ms Chutima enjoys sporting events.
The Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry signed a memorandum of understanding with the Commerce Ministry and the Interior Ministry last September to promote the megafarm scheme.
Last year, there were 381 rice megafarms spanning 940,000 rai. A total of 63,000 farmers took part in the scheme.
The ministry aims to expand the scheme to 426 rice megafarms this year covering 1.05 million rai, with the number of participating farmers rising to 72,142. Officials are reviewing incentives to entice more farmers to get involved.
"The megafarm scheme this year will run largely on three farming models: traditional farming, but with better marketing and farm management methods or the so-called Model 2.0; farming that uses basic technology and grows mainly premium rice to be supplied as raw materials to various industries to make products with added value (Model 3.0); and farming that applies advanced technology such as GPS satellite, soil improvement and agriculture drones for spraying fertiliser and pesticides to reduce production costs and produce innovative products (Model 4.0)," Ms Chutima says. "But for Model 4.0, we may need to find and attract interested investors."
The ministry will also focus this year on more actively promoting food safety and security and good agricultural practices (GAP) in the farm sector.
"One of the ministry's top priorities this year is to promote the proliferation of GAP so that we can declare to the world in the future that Thailand is a supplier of safe agricultural products such as vegetables to the world," Ms Chutima says. "Although chemicals are used while farming, it requires a long-enough period before harvesting and the residue levels must be at a tolerable rate. This, once achieved, will lead Thailand to the next step of development: chemical-free farming and ultimately organic farming."
In tandem with the farming developments, she says Thailand needs to create better understanding among consumers about the differences between safe agricultural products and organic ones, how to choose their items and why they sometimes have to pay more for safe and high-quality products.
"And one of the key focuses this year for the ministry is to partner with the Agricultural Research Development Agency, which handles research and development in Thailand's agricultural sector, to optimise existing research to grow more crops demanded by the market," Ms Chutima says.
