About 600 rubber farmers in Nakhon Si Thammarat on Saturday staged two blockades on a road in Chulabhorn district after refusing to sign an agreement with the government for a 2,520-baht-per-rai subsidy.
The protesters, who said they were gathering under the network of the Cha-uat farmers, who have staged mass rallies in the South in recent weeks to push for a crop price guarantee, used trailers to block the inbound and outbound lanes of Highway No.41, and blocked Khuan Nong Hong intersection about 10km away. Traffic was paralysed.
The blockades came after a rift emerged among rubber and palm oil representatives from 14 southern provinces, Prachuap Khiri Khan and Phetchaburi. They were split into two groups, with one signing an agreement with the government over the subsidy offer.
Farmers from five provinces _ Nakhon Si Thammarat, Songkhla, Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat _ agreed to sign the subsidy deal with Thawach Boonfueang, deputy secretary to the prime minister, who met farmers' representatives at a hotel in Nakhon Si Thammarat's Muang district yesterday.
Amnuay Yutitham, a core protest leader from Tha Sala district in Nakhon Si Thammarat, and Kajbundit Rammak, a coordinator from Songkhla, appeared at a press conference alongside Pol Maj Gen Thawach. But those from the other 11 provinces refused to sign.
According to the dissenting group, the rubber farmers were happy with the measures, but they wanted Deputy Prime Minister Pracha Promnok to sign himself.
Pol Gen Pracha earlier insisted he would not sign any subsidy agreement with protesting rubber and palm oil farmers.
The group also claimed that the other group did not represent the rubber farmers.
They were actually local politicians, the group said.
The agreement signing came after the cabinet on Tuesday endorsed the national rubber policy committee's proposal to double the subsidy to 2,520 baht per rai of farmland, capped at 25 rai per farmer. The five-point agreement would require the government to pay the 2,520-baht subsidy, cut red tape to ensure speedy disbursement, and distribute the subsidy equally to all farmers including those who do not hold land ownership papers.
"They can choose not to sign," Pol Maj Gen Thawach said, "but I have been assigned [to sign the deal] by Pol Gen Pracha, who has full authority to solve the problems for rubber farmers."
Democrat MP for Prachuap Khiri Khan Pramuan Pongtawaradej yesterday called on the government to clarify its decision to pay subsidies to rubber farmers who do not have land ownership documents.
He said the government should make clear as soon as possible how it would prove rubber farmers' land usage rights, and how long the process would take.
Mr Pramuan said there are several farmers who do not have land papers but have for a long time been engaged in legal disputes with state authorities.
The MP said that without clear government guidelines about land utilisation rights, another rubber farmer protest was sure to erupt.
Many farmers claim they have lived in protected forest areas before such zones were established. Another 300 farmers gathered in front of Thammarat market in Prachuap Khiri Khan's Bang Saphan district to demand clarification over the government's decision to pay subsidies to rubber farmers who do not have land ownership documents.
The farmers claimed rubber farming activities without proper documents covered more than 160,000 rai in Bang Saphan and Bang Saphan Noi districts.
They dispersed about 4pm.