Farmers insist that the government should continue its rice-pledging programme, suggesting authorities work out measures to offset the impact on exporters if the scheme affects the country's rice trade, according to a new survey.
The survey also found farmers have threatened to launch immediate protests if the loss-ridden programme is scrapped.
Thanavath Phonvichai, the vice-president for research at the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, said 63.7% of 1,228 farmers surveyed said the government's rice-pledging scheme has raised the quality of life for their families, as higher income helps to ease their household debt while raising their spending capability and savings.
However, most of the farmers admitted their production costs have risen accordingly, particularly for the rental fees of farmland.
Most of the farmers also said they feel a little disappointed about the government's recent decision to cut the rice-pledging prices for second crops to 13,000 baht a tonne and lower the maximum purchase amount by 40% to 300,000 baht per household for the second crop.
The cabinet approved the extension of the scheme early last month, aimed at buying 16.5 million tonnes of paddy from farmers in the 2013-14 season with a budget of 270 billion baht.
Under the new buying scheme, the government will continue to pay 15,000 baht a tonne for paddy and 20,000 baht for Hom Mali paddy from the main crop.
Purchases of the main crop will be made from Oct 1-Feb 28, while the programme for southern provinces will be from Oct 1-July 31.
For the second crop with a price of 13,000 baht a tonne, purchases will be from March 1-Sept 30, while those for the South will run from Aug 1-Nov 30.
The maximum amount will also be lowered from 500,000 baht to 350,000 baht per household for the main crop and 300,000 baht for the second crop.
Mr Thanavath said 35.2% of farmers believe the government should continue the programme for at least the next 3-4 years, while 22.8% want the government to scrap the programme only after rice prices surge.
However, most business operators believe the programme, which offers buying prices much higher than market prices, damages the country.
As many as 70.6% of respondents said despite farmers directly benefiting from the scheme, Thai rice at higher prices makes it less competitive.