Committee chairman and industrial permanent secretary Chakramon Phasukvanich said it had been agreed to force the company to transfer a proportion of its produce to the authorities.

The transferred stocks will be the equivalent to the amount Wang Kanai owes the farmers, he added.

"Then the committee will borrow money from the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives to pay the farmers," Chakramon said.

The decision followed the complaint from sugar-cane farmers in Lop Buri, who have not received full payment for products supplied to Wang Kanai's sugar mill.

Chakramon said some cash had been received, but Wang Kanai owed the farmers another Bt900 million, based on a sugar-cane price of Bt800 per tonne.

Chakramon said the bank had agreed in principle to lend the committee the money, which would be wired to the farmers' accounts at the bank.

"The committee will reconvene on Monday to draw up details of the scheme," Chakramon said.

Meanwhile, Industry Minister Kosit Panpiemras said the decision would be forwarded to the Cabinet for approval.

He said the Cabinet's screening committee would not hold up the issue, as the farmers had suffered for too long and the issue needed to be resolved quickly.