They want to remind the ministry of its promise to file a complaint with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) over the US's "double taxation" which includes a small anti-dumping duty and the continuous bond (C-bond) which guarantees payment of the bond.

"The clubs have a clear stance. We focus only on economics and the impact on farmers rather than politics," he said, adding that the club decided to hold the protest after the snap election.

The clubs also demanded the ministry file a complaint with the WTO within three days, saying that they it already wasted too much time. "Otherwise shrimp farmers from all over the country will travel to the ministry to seek justice," said Ekapoj.

The shrimp clubs sent an open letter to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce Somkid Chatusripitak on February 24. The letter, received by Preecha Laohapongchana, asked the government to file a complaint against the US within 30 days to protest against the US for breaking double-taxation rules. Previously, Karun Kittisataporn, permanent secretary of the ministry, said the issue would be raised during Thailand-US free trade agreement negotiations, but the negotiations were suspended when Thailand's political conflicts started boiling.

"We don't want to wait for those negotiations and the government should not involve the issue with free-trade talks. We don't know if the US will use the issue to bargain for market access for other products," he said. "We are very disappointed with their work," he said.

If this issue is not quickly resolved, the future of the Thai shrimp industry could be in jeopardy because most exporters will go bankrupt and have no funds to buy shrimp from farmers, he said.

Achara Pongvutitham, The Nation