Unhappy farmers head for capital
Thousands of farmers from across the country are converging on the capital to demand that the government address their grievances, their representatives said yesterday at a press conference at the Bangkok office of the Cam-paign for Popular Democracy.
Veerapon Sopa, an adviser to the Network for Thai People, said that about 1,000 farmers from the Northeast were now on their way to Bangkok and hoped to arrive by Friday to ask the government for help. "They will be joined by farmers from other regions," he said. Network of Thais for Reconciliation spokesman Warin Attanak added that more than 40,000 grass growers were planning to dump their produce in front of Government House if their leaders' meeting with Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Thira Sutabutra on Wednesday does not yield satisfactory results. Warin said these farmers had grown a variety of grass required for feed under the "One Million Cattle Project" launched by ousted prime minister Thaksin Shina-watra that has since been abandoned. "The grass growers want the government to buy the produce from them and they won't grow this variety of grass again," Warin said. General Saprang Kalayana-mitr, an assistant secretary to the Council for National Security, said the farmers would be invited to a meeting at a military compound in Saraburi. Saprang also called on the government to solve the farmers' problems urgently or else more farmers would join the rallies. "I know most farmers still like the Thaksin government," Saprang said.
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