Talks over unpaid subsidies are at an impasse, and government officials are unclear about how much rice lies idle in storage or when farmers will be paid.
So frustrated farmers from the north of Thailand walked out of talks and said they’d illlegally take over government warehouses to see if their rice remains inside.
“We have to ignore the legal problem because farmers have the right to inspect the rice which belong to them so long as they have not been paid,” said Ravee Rungruang, chairman of western rice farmers.
Farming organization chief Kittisak Ratanawaraha blamed government officials for cheating and lying to farmers. They no longer trust the explanations they’ve been given for why the rice is still sitting in the warehouses and want to see it for themselves.
The government negotiator, Commerce Minister Niwatthamrong Boonsongpaisarn, has said the government was working to get money to farmers, but that it will take time.
The farmers would not specify where they would begin to seize warehouses, Thai PBS reported.
Photo: Thai PBS
