PUBLISHED: 4 Mar 2025 at 17: 36
In response to low grain prices, about 1, 000 grain farmers gathered on Tuesday at the Ministry of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives and outside Government House to ask for financial aid.
At 10.26am, producers ‘ representatives from the central plains and eastern counties arrived at the Ministry of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives. They there demanded that the government provide a guarantee for the price of rice with a 15 % moisture content, which cost 11, 000 baht per tonne. Business prices are already 8, 200-8, 600 bass a tonne.
Producers from the central prairies also requested that the government pay 300 ringgit per month per ray for four months each year when their areas are purposefully submerged to prevent flooding in Bangkok.
The landowners then moved back to Government House to make their needs.
Ayutthaya native Thitiwat Kleepmalai claimed the producers had been requesting support for more than a month. The government only provided 1, 000 baht per ray, with a maximum of 10 ray.
Wheat prices have dropped and we are losing money, so the help offered is insufficient. Farmers may explain escalating our strategy, he said, unless there is clear assistance.
The farmers ‘ written requests were received by government staff from the Ministry of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives. Farmers were informed that Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra would form a committee to discuss the issue and meet with producers ‘ members on Wednesday when the rally came to an end.
The price of white rice decreased because India resumed imports of it while Indonesia and the Philippines delayed goods in the first third of this year, according to Charoen Laothammatas, chairman of the Thai Rice Exporters Association.
He claimed that Thai producers had increased farming and had great yields at the same time.
Mr. Charoen suggested that the government should assist farmers in lowering their costs more than appointing grain prices, which might turn up the market mechanisms.