The senate committee on consumer protection wants to examine the quality of the old, stockpiled rice the government plans to auction off, and also suspects there are legal problems around its sale.
Outgoing senator Somchai Swangkarn, who chairs the committee on human rights, liberty and consumer protection, said on Tuesday they had asked the Commerce Ministry for access to the rice stored in two warehouses in Surin province for the past 10 years, so they could examine the quality of the grain for themselves.
The rice is left over from the rice-pledging scheme of the former Yingluck Shinawatra administration. The Commerce Ministry has deemed it still edible, saying it has already been checked, and plans to auction it off, looking to Africa as the likely market.
Mr Somchai said there was no clear proof the prior tests were made on samples taken from the old stockpile in Surin.
Mr Somchai also said there could be legal problems. One of the two warehouses had auctioned off 29,000 tonnes of Hom Mali rice, but the winner rejected most of the grain because it turned out to be plain white rice, not fragrant rice.
At the other warehouse, Mr Somchai said, a buyer had registered a bid for the rice, but did not claim the grain.
Both cases were still with the courts.
The Senate committee's examination of the grain, if it confirms the quality, could help boost confidence when the government acts to sell it overseas, Mr Somchai said.
Outgoing senator Somchai Swangkarn
