Commerce Minister Niwatthamrong Bunsongphaisan insists the deal to sell 1.2 million tonnes of rice to China is real and that the two governments will sign an agreement in the next two weeks.
His confirmation was made to counter a media report that a source in China's State Administration of Grain had cast doubt on the deal.
"We did negotiate the rice sale with representatives of China's state enterprise Beidahuang, which also expressed an interest in buying 200,000 tonnes of rubber from Thailand," said Mr Niwatthamrong.
The parties are working on details before signing a sale agreement in Bangkok or Heilongjiang, he said.
"There is no need for the government to set this up. The sale is real," said Mr Niwatthamrong, adding that the price is good.
Last week, Reuters reported that a Chinese industry source said talks on a government-to-government deal had been taking place with Thailand for some time but nothing had been settled.
"It is impossible for China to import that much rice, as China doesn't need that much," the source said, referring to the 1.2 million tonnes.
The Reuters report appeared yesterday on the Facebook wall of deputy Democrat Party leader Korn Chatikavanij, who questioned the authenticity of the deal.
Mr Korn wrote it is necessary for the government to clarify this deal to the public, as the rice pledging scheme has consumed a huge budget of more than 500 billion baht, the ceiling of the revolving budget set by the cabinet.
However, the cabinet recently approved another 270 billion baht to pursue the rice scheme next season with a Finance Ministry condition that the Commerce Ministry must sell rice from its huge stockpile to get some fresh money to return to the state and maintain fiscal discipline.