Boonsong: Rice sales 'secret'

News > Local News

Revealing G-to-G details 'could hurt foreign ties'

Published: 12 Oct 2012 at 00.00
Newspaper section: News

Commerce Minister Boonsong Teriyapirom yesterday remained tight-lipped over the government-to-government (G-to-G) rice export controversy, saying details of rice sales are confidential and cannot be released to the public.

The disused cargo terminal at Don Mueang airport will be turned into a warehouse to store rice under the government’s rice pledging scheme. The government has denied that flaws in the scheme have resulted in huge amounts of pledged rice remaining unsold. THITIWANNAMONTHA

Mr Boonsong has claimed the government has signed contracts to export 7.3 millions tonnes of rice under the controversial pledging scheme, though critics question whether the deals exist and have called for evidence.

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sailor1
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Discussion 39 : 12 Oct 2012 at 21.0839
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D 28 As it is a G to G deal, it is partly the seller's problem. something called transparency. obviously a word not in your (or your friends) book. as always, in an attempt to try to change the subject, you duck the issue.
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franklin
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Discussion 38 : 12 Oct 2012 at 18.3338
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Government to government state secret? “Who’s buying the rice”? Government: “If I told you, I’d have to kill you” (from the movies). This is the most moronic crock of bull I have ever heard. ASEAN and its economic opportunities that are supposed to benefit all members fairly and openly is approaching quickly. The cornerstone of its policy is supposed to be open and competitive markets, based on honesty and trust. Why doesn’t this government see how foolish they must be viewed? If Thailand won’t even be honest with its own people about how it is spending their tax money, what do you think is going through the minds of trade ministers from member nations?
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kasper
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Discussion 37 : 12 Oct 2012 at 15.3937
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@bula, d28.

Why do you insist that Thai rice sales should be kept secret from the public? Is it because you want to keep the PTP in power, and worry that if this case is made public, they might lose this power? Is it because you prefer a lack of transparency and the corruption that inevitably follows? Is it because you honestly think that rice sales figures can will damage Thailands relations with the buying countries? Or is there an entirely different reason? I would really like to know your thoughts on this?
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kasper
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Discussion 36 : 12 Oct 2012 at 15.1536
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Thailand has exported rice for years to other countries both through the private and the public sector. It was not a secret then, and none of the countries the rice was sold to ever complained that Thailand did not keep the deals secret.
I wonder why rice sales has all of a sudden become a top secret national security issue?
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villaba
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Discussion 35 : 12 Oct 2012 at 15.0835
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If the sale is not transparent, how will the income recieved be transparent? This seems like the grandest theft this criminal cabal ruling the country have pulled off to date.
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samut
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Discussion 34 : 12 Oct 2012 at 14.5734
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Ministers as other Government officials are not employers (bosse) but employees working for the people and get paid by those people (the tax payer); therefore the people have the right to know what happens with their money saying otherwise is ridiculous!
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kasper
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Discussion 33 : 12 Oct 2012 at 14.0033
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@Eric, d17.

"Thailand must maintain and respect international protocol."

Could you please let me know what international protocol is?

In the few EU member countries I am familiar with, the public can by law, through proper channels, request detailed information on any deal, contract, budget, spending etc. made by the government, unless it is classified, which is generally only the case if military related. Rice import/export is not considered military related.

This law of public insight is a great tool for the newspapers to expose corruption, which is part of the reason why most of especially the northern european countries have as little corruption as they do.
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lungstib
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Discussion 32 : 12 Oct 2012 at 13.2032
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Due to the great secrecy involved and in light of national security I would like to point out that at no time in the last 2 years have I bought any rice in this country.
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bikeme
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Discussion 31 : 12 Oct 2012 at 13.1431
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With the availability of reasonably priced rice from Vietnam, India, etc, there is no plausible reason why a government would pay more than market value for Thai rice.

Hence there are only two reasons why this is being kept secret: 1) the PTP had to sell it to the foreign governments at a lower price than they bought it for; 2) it is just another little white lie.
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cadcolin
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Discussion 30 : 12 Oct 2012 at 13.1330
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Have to agree with Dao
if it was a resounding success I’m sure we would have all the politicians explaining how smart they were in supporting the rice scheme good it was and how they sold all the rice to all these countries
Echoes of the Thai Privilege scheme a brilliant tourist scheme which was the pet idea of !!!!
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Boonsong: Rice sales 'secret' | Bangkok Post: news