Thailand to sell stockpiled rice at market prices

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Govt accepts it will lose on rice

Published: 7 Mar 2013 at 11.54
Online news: Local News

The government will have to sell off its rice stockpile amassed under the rice pledging scheme at market prices, PM's Office Minister Nawatthamrong Boonsongpaisan admitted on Thursday.

The government will have to take a big loss on the sale, because pledging prices were set much higher than the market price, he said.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra recently assigned Mr Nawatthamrong to oversee the rice pledging scheme and ensure that taxpayer funding for the programme does not exceed 500 billion baht per year.

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kasper
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Discussion 73 : 08 Mar 2013 at 13.2273
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@pjt, d66.

I agree with most of what you are saying, but it should not stop there. If the CEO of a private company mismanages a company to the extend ms. Yingluck and the PTP has mismanaged Thailand, then that CEO will be fired immediately once the shareholders (the public) finds out about it (many will step down on their own). Once fired, all accounts, contracts etc. will be checked for irregularities in order to find out if criminal charges should be laid against the former CEO or anyone else for that matter. - and in the case of Thailand Inc. and the rice scam I bet there is alot of irregularities!
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Eric
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Discussion 72 : 08 Mar 2013 at 12.1172
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Jielus dis#60, always the headline news that grap people attention. Never mind that the general economic has benefitted from improved domestic spending and allow Thailand to grow in spite of very poor external conditions. Never mind that the revenue collected in January was over the target, much from VAT. The rice scheme is no different from agriculture subsidies during previous government or any other countries. The only draw back is that the scheme has not been running efficiency and too many loop holes for corruption which the government must seriously address.
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bonzo
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Discussion 71 : 08 Mar 2013 at 11.5371
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You are correct, Englishbob (D43) - I had forgotten the ancient and venerable custom of Throwing Good Money After Bad. Silly me.
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Tanami
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Discussion 70 : 08 Mar 2013 at 11.4870
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For the Thai government to admit it made a mistake is the same as losing face. Knowing Thais I bet every dollar this will never happen in my life time.
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joe_blow
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Discussion 69 : 08 Mar 2013 at 11.4769
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Learn from the big boys, this isn't the first time a national farm or agro subsidy went bad.....take it out to sea and dump it in the ocean, dump it all....get it over and done with....keeping it around and slowly selling it off will do more long term damage to the world market. Be done with it, suck up the loss, the Baht will devalue a bit, learn from it, and move on to the next harvest.
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howell
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Discussion 68 : 08 Mar 2013 at 11.4368
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@Ian Disc 63. '...yet another example of PT stupidity..' Oh yes. Buying rice at 40 % over market rates is stupid beyond belief.
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joninnak
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Discussion 67 : 08 Mar 2013 at 10.2267
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Posters are comparing Tax money to the governments money. I believe it should be known as the governments money. PT MP's are the government so they should all pay towards the deficit from their own money.
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pjt
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Discussion 66 : 08 Mar 2013 at 09.5666
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D63@Ian - no Ian - the main reason this backfired is because the price offered was way above market and somehow PT believed they could force up world prices to get them out of jail. Other subsidy systems do not work that way. What is required now is a full accounting to Parliament starting with the volume sold and sales revenue to date (incluing G2G deal) and an estimate ofhe realisable value to stocks still held to estimate the damage to public finances. Added to this must come explanation of how the scheme will change to stop this happening again
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kasper
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Discussion 65 : 08 Mar 2013 at 09.5465
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@Ian, d63.

I agree with you. But why then does PTP keep borrowing and spending more and more money on my behalf, when they know that most of the money will end in the wrong hands? Further, the fact that PTP considers all information "secret and sensitive" suggests that the money ends in their hands (PTP and friends), and that they therefore have no intention to prevent the corruption. If they had nothing to hide, then why would they not make everything public record, so everyone can clearly see what happens to the money and the rice?
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bertkok
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Discussion 64 : 08 Mar 2013 at 09.4664
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A lot has been written about corruption in the rice pledging scheme. A lot has been written about the blatant ineptitude of the PTP and their buying of votes with the scheme. But let's be honest, the fault doesn't lye with the PTP alone. It lies with an inability to accept responsibility for making mistakes, and an unwillingness to accept accountability for those mistakes. Yes, this scheme is about to lose us billions of baht, but let's look at a way of mitigating that loss in the future. Let's look for a sustainable solution whereby the poor farmers can benefit but the whole of the country doesn't have to pay the price.
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Thailand to sell stockpiled rice at market prices | Bangkok Post: news

Govt accepts it will lose on rice

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