Farmers in several provinces yesterday blocked roads to demand the government resolve the delayed payment problem with the rice-pledging scheme.
Farmers drive to Khiri Mat district office in Sukhothai yesterday to protest against the government’s delayed payments under the rice-pledging scheme. PHUBES FAITES
In Phitsanulok's Muang district, about 150 farmers from Phrom Phiram district shut the Indochina intersection at tambon Samo Khae.
Protest leader Chatree Ampool said the group demanded farmers be given back their rice and the government should take back the bai pratuan _ a document which farmers can exchange for cash at the state-owned Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC).
Mr Chatree insisted the group's protest was not politically motivated.
Under the rice-pledging programme, the government is committed to buy the grain from farmers at 15,000 baht a tonne for paddy and 20,000 baht for Hom Mali rice, which is well above market prices.
In Sukhothai, about 500 farmers from Khiri Mat district rallied and set up a protest stage in front of the district office.
They demanded the government quickly solve the delayed payment as they have not been paid under the rice-pledging scheme for five months.
Of the 7,773 farmers in Khiri Mat district entitled to payment under the scheme, only about 700 have been paid, said protester Jarun Porn-noi.
"The government always lies to us and focuses only on the election," Mr Jarun said.
The farmers have also collected their bai pratuan and identification cards in preparation to file a lawsuit against the government for the delay in payment, he said.
In Phetchabun, about 100 farmers from Muang, Lom Kao and Lom Sak districts blocked a road in Muang municipality to demand payment.
The group earlier set a deadline for the government to pay the owed money by Saturday.
Chaiyan Yodkam, chief of the Office of Commercial Affairs in Phetchabun, later assured farmers they will be paid once the caretaker government can secure a loan.
Naowarat Buaban, deputy chief of Phetchabun BAAC, said the government had promised all farmers will be paid by March 15.
Farmers from Chai Nat and Nakhon Sawan's Takhli district blocked a section of the outbound lane of the Asian Highway in Manorom district of Chai Nat yesterday.
They asked the government to tell them when they will receive their money, and they threatened to block another lane if the government failed to address their concerns in a cabinet meeting yesterday.
Meanwhile, National Anti-Corruption Network secretary-general Mongkonkit Suksintharanont yesterday submitted a petition with the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), asking it to lodge a civil suit against the government for its handling of government-to-government rice deals. The petition was handed to NACC deputy secretary-general Wittaya Akompitak.
The petition asked the NACC to freeze and confiscate the assets of cabinet members involved, including caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, 74 former MPs and some senators.
Mr Mongkonkit said the network found no evidence that government-to-government rice deals took place between Thailand and China. Only private deals were discovered, he said.