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Two hapless Suphan Buri farmers survey their barren 30 rai of rice paddy. The pair placed 55 buckets of seeds on their field on Monday night only to find all were gone the following day. Below: a woman purchases rice at a supermarket in Hong Kong. Shopper
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Dishing out rice
More than 2-million tonnes of rice will be sold cheap in five-kilogramme bags, but to stop hoarding, buyers will need to produce their house-registration book
Published on April 2, 2008
The world rice crisis will see the government selling cheap grain to the poor. But, to stop them from hoar-ding the bargain rice, they'll have to show their household registration book, it says. International rice prices are skyrocketing. Some countries, like India, have banned exports to make sure its people are fed. Here, Deputy Prime Minis-ter and Commerce Minister Mingkwan Sangsuwan says the government must make sure the less well off don't go hungry. The household-registration-book demand is to make sure the unscrupulous don't take advantage of others. The Cabinet yesterday gave the cheap-rice plan the okay. The National Rice Policy Committee will set prices and decide on the distribution method as well as the exact volume of rice. The Commerce Ministry plans to sell 2.1 million tonnes of rice in five-kilogramme bags. The Interior Ministry will oversee distribution. MPs have been asked to observe sales in their constituencies. The cheap rice will not be sold in supermarkets, again, to prevent hoarding.
Bt72-86 for 5-kg bag A Cabinet source said that the Public Warehouse Organ-isation has set the sale price at Bt72-Bt86 for each 5-kg bag. Jasmine rice now fetches Bt16,000 per tonne. India's basmati rice fetches US$1,200 (Bt37,800) a tonne. International hoarding is rife. Before India, Vietnam halted exports. Here, shelves are empty as families that can afford it have stocked up. In Hong Kong, there is no rice for sale, after shoppers cleared stocks in minutes after hearing news prices for Thai rice would rise by a third.
Cashing in on world crisis Internal Trade Department director-general Yanyong Phuangrach insists there'll be no shortage in this country. But, prices will be higher. Mingkwan agrees. National production is more than 20 million tonnes and local consumption is a maximum of 11 million tonnes, but normally about 7 million tonnes. The rest is exported. Thailand is cashing in on the world crisis. As major rice-exporting competitors shut up shop, this country's market share is rising from a normal third of all international sales.
By Sucheera Pinijparakarn DailyXpress
rice bowl >> Average daily rice consumption is 290 grams a person >> Annual consumption is 105 kilogrammes a head >> National consumption is 6.6 million tonnes a year >> The country grows 20.5 million tonnes of rice a year
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