Rice farmers rally against Nida group

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Rice farmers rally against Nida group

Academics blasted for opposition to pledging

Published: 3 Oct 2012 at 00.00
Newspaper section: News

Rice farmers are threatening to step up protests against academics who they have blasted for opposing the government's rice pledging scheme.

The warning was issued by leaders of about 3,000 rice farmers who gathered at the National Institute of Development Administration (Nida) yesterday to protest against a call by a group of its lecturers for the Constitution Court to scrap the programme.

The lecturers' group has petitioned the court to call a halt to the pledging, claiming that it violates the constitution which promotes free trade and prohibits the state from competing in businesses with the private sector.

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bangmodken
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Discussion 40 : 03 Oct 2012 at 18.5540
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Domdunn,D35 : No,of course I don't think feudal lords ANYWHERE cares. The difference between farmers in red occupied territories and the others are education. In the south they grow more than one crop and they don't have red kommissars telling them what to think and do. What you obviously refuse to understand is the Dems/NIDA are actually trying to improve the rice pledging scheme to make sure the poor/landless farmers reaps most,if not all,the benefits rather than dirty politicians and their relatives. It's funny that you make such an effort pointing out that farmers in red occupied provinces are not being "organized" against their will. The effect is the exact opposite,especially coming from you,a former irish banker.
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khunbj
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Discussion 39 : 03 Oct 2012 at 15.4639
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Well Kasper , the alternative that you must be advocating which will then be to do nothing and wait for the problem to go away...sorry mate that won't work. No the only way is for the citizens to stand up and say they had enough and report the corruption, before that happen no change will be possible.
Maybe you believe that with another government the corruption will go away ? Well got news for you Kasper, it won't .... corruption has been bred into the Thai society over generations by previous governments.
Or maybe I should ask you how corruption is removed , maybe you got some ideas yourself ?
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DONHUAN
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Discussion 38 : 03 Oct 2012 at 14.2738
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This seems to be the modus operandi of choice (mob rule) to confront people whose view they don’t like or disagree. Please don’t confused these actions as “peaceful protect” because there are many peaceful options available to facilitate exchange of views without resorting to intimidation tactics disguised as “protest”. Only when the substances and merits of the issues in question are vigorously debated by the competing parties will there be a better understanding / solutions that all can accept. Democracy is about exchange of view points by the proponents and we the people (all of Thailand), with our collective wisdom, decides the general consensus of the time.
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kasper
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Discussion 37 : 03 Oct 2012 at 14.2737
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@khunbj, d31.

And don't expect anyone with insider knowledge, such as the graft agency officials to blow any whistles either. Remember what happened just recently to the guy who decided to do something about illegally built resorts on forest land? Or the guy who wanted to expose corruption regarding the flood prevention money? Yes, PTP decided to get rid of both of them. Have you heard anything from any of them since? I hope you remember these cases in your endless support of the PTP!
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kasper
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Discussion 36 : 03 Oct 2012 at 14.2236
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@khunbj, d31.

Several times this year alone someone has blown the whistle by exposing wrongdoing either in the papers or on youtube etc. Can you recall the responses from the police chief, PTP's Chalerm and others?

Was it "Well done for bringing this problem to our attention, we will fix it imediately!"

Or was it "Who posted that video?? Rest assured we will do everything in our power to prosecute this whistleblower who is defaming our country by exposing the truth!!"
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domdunnn
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Discussion 35 : 03 Oct 2012 at 14.2035
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bangmodken d33

And you think the feudal lords in the south don't care?

The northern farmers are being organised (not against their will) by the UDD, the southern farmers' feudal lords are Democrats and support NIDA and so are keeping quiet.
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MEB1969
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Discussion 34 : 03 Oct 2012 at 12.5634
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"The farmers lambasted the academics for their move and accused them of being manipulated as a political tool against the government."
Hmm isn't everything used as a political tool in Thailand (or any country for that matter). But that is beside the point......
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bangmodken
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Discussion 33 : 03 Oct 2012 at 12.0533
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KhunBJ : You are correct in many aspects and I'm sure you wish the best for poor/landless farmers,just like the rest of us,but I wonder why it's only rice-farmers in red held provinces who are protesting? If the academics and the Dems were so wrong in their criticism of this scheme/scam,I would imagine the rice-farmers in central and southern provinces would be protesting as well. But they're not.
Personally,I think the farmers from red provinces are protesting because the local feudal lords told/paid them to. They(the feudal lords in the red provinces)are the ones who benefits the most from this policy which is why we see their "lowly subordinates" in the streets,everytime anyone dare to criticize the PTP/UDD and the policies.
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commee
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Discussion 32 : 03 Oct 2012 at 11.5532
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My parents were rice farmers for many many years. I know exactly what they need. They don't want handouts, they just want fair market value for their crops. Low interest loans to buy fertilizer, help to buy machinery, and help creating markets will benefit all farmers without crippling the country's economy.
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khunbj
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Discussion 31 : 03 Oct 2012 at 11.5231
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Sunshine : yes maybe you are right, but else the alternative for the Government would be to stop employing people, stop doing investments in anything and wait for corruption to go away, don't think that will work either....what we need is strong citizens not afraid of blowing the whistle. Most big embezzlement and fraud cases, look at Enron, Madoff etc had whistle blowers as well...we need some here too...now we have a hotline 1206 where you can call about corruption, hope people use it.
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Rice farmers rally against Nida group | Bangkok Post: news