Thailand's rice committee announced new loan schemes worth $514 million on Monday to help rice growers struggling with falling prices as farmers of the grain become the new battleground between the junta and the opposition ahead of 2017 elections. Tumbling rice prices have sent the ruling junta scrambling to roll out rescue packages as both the military government and the opposition try to woo politically powerful rice farmers ahead of the vote expected by late next year.
Farmers will receive 10,500 baht ($299) for every tonne of white paddy stored, Thailand's Minister of Commerce Apiradee Tantraporn told reporters. Farmers who store Thai Pathum Thani fragrant rice will receive 11,300 baht ($322) per tonne. "The overall budget is set at 18 billion baht ($514 million)," said Apiradee.
"This is to help relieve grievances farmers are facing while the main crop is being harvested," she said. Prices in Thailand hit a 13-month low last week, hurting farmers in the world's second-largest rice exporter. With the rice harvest season underway, the military government last week said it would offer loans worth $1.3 billion to jasmine rice farmers, on the condition that they store the grain for six months to slow down market supply. Ousted former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, whose government was overthrown in a May 2014 military coup, attacked the military government's recent rescue packages on Friday and said the measures were no different to her government's rice policy.