Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Chalermchai Sri-on has promised to help address the labour shortage and debt issues in the fishing industry, but decided to remain tight-lipped on the fishermen's nine other demands -- including a 10-billion-baht request to buy back boats.
Mr Chalermchai made the pledges after commercial fishermen from 22 coastal provinces announced their plan to gather at the Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry office in Bangkok on Tuesday.
The minister said on Monday that he is "ready to listen" and that he can "work right away" on some of the demands.
With regards to the labour shortage, Mr Chalermchai said that the matter has been forwarded to the Labour Ministry for further discussion.
Meanwhile, with regards to the fishermen's debts, the minister said that Deputy Prime Minister Jurin Laksanawisit -- who chairs the Farmers' Reconstruction and Development Fund Committee -- has instructed authorities to gather the names of 2,400 fishermen who want to join the government's debt-restructuring programme for cabinet approval.
However, at the same time, Mr Chalermchai said that the government has already eased a number of regulations and introduced a raft of measures to help improve the welfare of fishermen -- including providing loans, raising the number of fishing days in a year and expanding fishing grounds.
The fishermen are led by Mongkon Sukcharoenkhana, president of the National Fisheries Association of Thailand (NFAT), who had previously said that the group plans to hold a protest outside of the Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry until Jan 15, or until their demands are met.
The group issued a list of 11 demands, calling on the government to ease fishing restrictions, help address labour shortages and solve the fishermen's mounting debt problems. The fishermen also asked the government to spend 10 billion baht to buy back fishing boats from owners whose businesses were affected by the government's fishing laws.
Respected fishery conservationist and adviser of Thai Sea Watch Association, Bunjong Nasae, said the group's demands reflect their inability to cope with change.
"Why does the government need to spend taxpayers' money to buy back fishing boats, which were grounded for good reason?" he said.
"Some people will get rich overnight if the government cedes to this particular demand. Some commercial fishing company have as many as 80 boats. They can make easy money by asking the government to buy their old boats."