Even though the military government has vowed to push for reforms in a number of key areas, it seems to have overlooked a critical issue also in need of reform: The management of the state's rice stockpiles.
Thailand has been recognised as the world's number one rice exporter, accounting for a 40% global market share. This year, the Commerce Ministry said the country's rice exports are tipped to reach 11 million tonnes, the highest volume ever, thanks to rising demand from rice-importing countries at a time when production in grower countries is falling.
For decades, the Department of Foreign Trade, under the Commerce Ministry, annually called for bids for state rice stocks to unload pledged rice kept in government warehouses under the rice subsidy policy of previous governments.
Soonruth Bunyamanee is deputy editor, Bangkok Post..
Scandals have similarly arisen regarding the ministry's rice-bidding scheme almost every year. Rice auctions under this government are no exception. So what, exactly, is going on?
Taking a closer look at the political interests as well as established personal connections within the realm of rice trading helps shed light on the problem.
Rice is always a valuable political commodity frequently exploited by politicians as a tool to woo votes from farmers. Moreover, numerous politicians or their relatives are rice traders or exporters themselves.
While there are many players in the domestic rice trade, many of them are in fact from the same group. For example, several companies participating in the same state auctions for agricultural products have been found to be subsidiaries of the same major rice-exporting corporations.
In addition, some major rice traders have strong ties with political players. They have long developed close relationships with state officials, potentially influencing their decision-making process.
In some cases, unusually low bidding prices for the state's rice were offered by all bidders, prompting speculation about hoarding.
Sometimes, rice traders colluded in applying market pressure to lower domestic rice prices to help them buy products at cheap rates before driving up market prices and then selling their rice stocks at higher prices.
A recent controversy over "the unfair disqualification" of a bidder in the latest round of rice auctions, exposed to the media by former Democrat MP Watchara Petchthong, is telling.
TPK Ethanol Co, earlier filed a complaint with the Central Administrative Court accusing the Department of Foreign Trade of unfairly disqualifying its winning bid in a 525,000-tonne rice auction in April, even though it offered the highest price.
The court late last month issued an injunction order to suspend the Department of Foreign Trade's auctions for 2.7 million tonnes of inedible rice which was meant to go to the animal feed industry.
In a written response to the company, the department said that Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, as the national rice policy committee chairman, and Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Gen Chatchai Sarikulya, as the deputy chairman, had approved the disqualification.
The department's director-general Duangporn Rodphaya said TPK Ethanol had been ruled out because one of its managers served as a director at two companies which had been found to have breached a contract with the department 20 years ago in a cassava price-pledging scheme.
The department recently filed an appeal to the Supreme Administrative Court against the lower court's order.
In response, TPK Ethanol executives submitted a letter to the Supreme Administrative Court countering the department's appeal.
The company claims the department's move was discriminatory and applied a "double standard", saying there were three other companies which were not eligible for the auction but were allowed to take part in it anyway.
The first company is comprised of a group of rice traders who were also found to have breached an auction contract last year under a different business entity. The company's board of directors is the same as those of the previous entity, the letter said.
The second company, it alleges, was implicated by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) for its involvement in a corruption case related to the government-to-government rice trading scheme implemented by the former government. One of the company's directors is even a suspect facing charges by the NACC, the letter said.
The third one is a rice company which had a dispute with the department over rice auctions but was allowed to join the auction after registering itself under a new company name, said TPK Ethanol.
Ms Duangporn had tried to clarify the issues but, truth be told, her explanation was lacking. The case has now been left in the hands of the court to suss out.
Another allegation, raised by some Pheu Thai Party members, regarding the rice bidding management scheme under this government, is also awaiting a clear-cut response.
Pheu Thai Party members, led by Yuttapong Charasathein, former deputy agriculture and cooperatives minister, accused the military government of selling 2.14 million tonnes of fragrant rice as animal feed at a knockdown price.
Some traders proposed to buy rice from the government at 11.25 baht per kilogramme but their proposals were declined. But the state later sold the rice at 6.10 baht a kilogramme. This problem existed in 18 warehouses, they claim.
This practice has caused heavy losses in the government's rice stock disposals, while the buck has been passed to the last government, they said.
Although the department claims that the rice was sold at such a low price because its quality had deteriorated and was thus inedible, it has yet to provide the public with a satisfactory answer.
Needless to say, these issues may have been overstated for the sake of political gain. But many unanswered questions have done nothing to ease public scepticism.
The Prayut Chan-o-cha government, which is dead set on punishing those responsible for damages derived from the previous government's rice-pledging scheme, should look into the latest allegations over the state's rice auctions.
The regime has vowed to promote good governance within both the state and private sectors. It has to prove that this agenda is not just a bunch of empty promises.
While the government is pushing reforms in several areas, the management of agricultural product stocks under the Commerce Ministry should be one of them.
Gen Prayut, whose capacity as the chairman of the national rice policy committee was cited by commerce officials in their defence of the auction allegations, must restore public confidence by launching a probe into these claims and make it clear that his government does not apply "double standards".