PUBLISHED: 18 May 2025 at 08: 39
Local fruits farmers have urged the Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra to recruit Thai K-pop star Lalisa” Lisa” Manobal for a campaign to promote Thai fruit in order to increase global sales.
Ms. Paetongtarn visited northeast region fruit growers and businesses on Saturday, where they raised pressing issues like rising generation costs, delayed exports, and labor shortages. They focused on how the state may assist in addressing these issues.
One of the remarkable ideas was to encourage Lisa to lead fruit promotion initiatives. Fosters think her global control could help to increase Thailand’s fruits exports into new markets, especially those that are outside of China.
The shift is anticipated to increase fruit imports from the current 200 to 300 billion baht to 500 billion ringgit periodically.
Additionally, the farmers demanded faster border checkpoint customs running, which can cause up to 12 day difficulties for supplies. Additionally, they advocated for more stringent rules to stop fruit from being harvested too early, which affects both their pounds and quality. They urged the Ministry of Agriculture and provincial government to put stricter restrictions on this subject.
Another key issue was the lack of skilled workers. The farmers suggested that migrant workers ‘ work permits be extended and that they could walk between provinces to find work. Additionally, they requested a 100-million-baht payment fund for edible farmers and people who have been impacted by wild elephant incursions.
Ms. Paetongtarn responded, stating that the government is collaborating with businesses to get profit produce and reduce waste.
She also stated that export procedures would be made more expedient and that the agrarian sector’s labor shortage had been addressed by the Ministry of Labour.
She cited the improvement of her neighbors and the importance of research and development to enhance product quality and profitability.
She claimed that the government is working to improve R&D in some important export sectors.
Afterwards in the day, she took a tour of a Young Smart Farmer party exhibition booth where fruit were being streamed live.
She also participated in efforts to eliminate chemical toxins from durians, planted a branch, and participated in a durian-cutting project.