Let's keep it real in the rice field

COMMENTARY

Let's keep it real in the rice field

Published: 7 Oct 2012 at 00.00
Newspaper section: News

Some 260 billion baht has already been spent on subsidising rice prices and another 405 billion baht will follow for the next farming season. If one were to view the rice pledging scheme from an economic perspective, surely one would see that it is full of holes. If one were to assume that the intention of the scheme is to better the lives of farmers, surely it's obvious that any benefits would be minimal and temporary. But if one were to look at the scheme from a realpolitik perspective, surely one would see its merits.

Oftentimes we misjudge a government policy because we misinterpret its motives and intentions, and such is the case with the rice pledging scheme. If one views the scheme in the big picture context of this ''sensitive and transitional period'' in Thai history, it can be understood as a sound strategy on the part of Thaksin Shinawatra and the Pheu Thai Party.

Every move, every sneeze and every passing of wind from both sides of the political divide is for one goal only, complete political victory. For Thaksin, this means his return to Thailand, his being exonerated from any wrongdoings and his return to power. The wheels have been in motion over the past year of Pheu Thai's term.

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Renaissance
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Discussion 22 : 07 Oct 2012 at 11.5722
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Thaksin is indeed a genius in the arena of politics and he can manipulate people and the whole Thai political system like no other. But one day his star will fall because his whole philosophy is based on the same principles which have brought about the downfall of countless other politicians, company leaders, and dictators around the world before him. If he cannot persuade the other rice-producing countries to support him in raising global rice prices, Thailand's rice industry will surely collapse. Those other countries must surely see that Thailand's rice industry is already potentially dead in the water, and they will know that if they don't help him to raise global rice prices, their own rice industry will be able to overtake and leave Thailand's rice industry in the dust of its full warehouses.
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onlyasking
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Discussion 21 : 07 Oct 2012 at 11.3821
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Here is a quote from an article in The Nation dated 23 February 2009 "Thailand 's rice export industry is in danger of collapsing in the next two years if the government continues its failed policy of intervening in the market with unreasonable prices, instead of offering sustainable development measures to upgrade planting and marketing techniques". Sounds familiar doesn't.
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amazed
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Discussion 20 : 07 Oct 2012 at 10.4720
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Disc. 18 It's not that the government is doing something unheard of in other democratic countries, it's the extremes that they have taken it to.
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spiceman
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Discussion 19 : 07 Oct 2012 at 10.3619
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Khun JohnB #18, Free Mkt System USE to, I repeat, USE to exist in the US, but over the years, especially the last 2 decades, it has been relentlessly and systematically erased from this Land of the Free & Home of the Braves, and with the same destructive results, plaguing the EU right now. What Thailand has is an excellent opportunity to learn from mistakes made by the EU and the USA, so it can avoid repeating them itself. As I recall, the former Soviet Union was deemed to be the most toxic land on earth, around its various desolated industrial and military sites. Still remember Chernobyl?
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Eric
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Discussion 18 : 07 Oct 2012 at 10.0618
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The article state the obvious. Every political parties in any democratic counties will implement policies to hold on to their support base and woe voters. Best statement in the article but needed some paraphrasing is ' rich landowners and network of ruling elites ignoring the poor on both political divide'. Whether it's the current, previous or past governments, same policies of protecting the rich at the expense of the poor is the bane of Thailand.
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pjt
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Discussion 17 : 07 Oct 2012 at 10.0017
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If a policy is based on 'realpolitik' as opposed to the best interest of the country, this is all the more reason why it should be questioned and, where appropriate, opposed. If opposition is turned into a fuel for hatred and disunity as opposed to constructive improvement, there is even greater reason to stand up to seek a different course. Opposition is a vital part of democracy. Leaders and governments who create division and hatred to achieve a political end rarely know when (or how) to stop. Things rarely turn out well for their people
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OldThaiHand
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Discussion 16 : 07 Oct 2012 at 10.0016
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One other aspect of this to which you only allude is the increasing anti-academic, ant-intellectual stance of the PTP and the general populace, not just in this issue but in others as well. The recent angry demonstration against the call by NIDA academics, for the rice-pledging scheme to be scraped is just the latest example.

While I don't expect to see the intelligentsia relocated to countryside collectives for "re-education" or worse, a la the Khmer Rouge, this is a disturbing trend and also a big part of the dangerous "Us and Them" mindest of the UDD masses.
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bikeme
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Discussion 15 : 07 Oct 2012 at 09.5815
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D9 - It is often amazing how unwilling the red brethren are to accept any criticism of their beloved Thaksin. Folks who view the world with an open mind and open eyes can easily see the truth of Khun Voranai's editorial.
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johnb
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Discussion 14 : 07 Oct 2012 at 09.4214
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#1; You mean the same 'free market' that causes massive environmental damage, all powerful unethical MNCs that exploit third world countries, huge income distribution disparities and financial crises that plummet the entire world into a never ending recession.
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sunnyjim
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Discussion 13 : 07 Oct 2012 at 09.3813
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So this year and next year the government will spend 665,000,000,000 (665 billion baht) on rice. That is mental. That's nearly 10,000 baht being given to every man, woman and child in Thailand. Or 300'000 being given to the 2 million land owning or tenant farmers in Thailand. With numbers like that farmers are getting paid more than civil servants, teachers and nurses. But the tax of nurses etc. pays for the farmers privilege.

At this rate in a couple of years the farmers will be millionaires.
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Let's keep it real in the rice field | Bangkok Post: opinion