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The para-rubber price in the past two weeks has dropped by Bt5-Bt10 per kilogram to Bt30-Bt35, against the peak of near Bt100 in June 2006. Natural-rubber prices have been pulled down by prices of synthetic rubber, reflecting sluggish demand in the vehicle market.

Yala official Phasan Limpataphan said yesterday that some farmers were seeking new careers, to compensate for an income drop at a time when expenses are heading up.

The Cabinet on Tuesday approved the pledging programme for rice and maize, while the Commerce Ministry was assigned to find measures to cut production costs, which have been rising mainly for fertiliser and feed meal.

Farmers protesting in Chiang Mai dispersed the day after the Cabinet approved the corn-pledging scheme. Their leader, Sanguan Nipuna, said the scheme was temporary, running until February. He expects farmers to witness the price problem again in the next harvest season and has called for long-term measures from the government. He noted that corn imports had jumped from free-trade agreements, while Thai farmers suffer from higher fertiliser prices.

Montri Congtrakultien, president and CEO for the Crop Integration Business Group of Charoen Pokphand Group, said the government should set up price-support programmes for two more crops - oil palm and rubber - to reassure farmers that prices would not fall any further.

The guaranteed price for rubber latex should be Bt65 per kilo for a total of 500,000 tonnes, against the market price of Bt51, he said.

The guaranteed price for palm fruit should be Bt3.50 per kilo for 100,000 tonnes to stimulate the market, where the price has sunk below Bt3.

Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia, the world's three biggest rubber producers, may introduce short-term measures including government purchases to prop up prices that have slumped to three-year lows, Bloomberg reported yesterday.

"We are focusing on four measures - cutting old rubber trees, stop adding new plantation, delaying tapping and asking exporters to stop quoting prices," said Somchai Charnnarongkul, director-general of the Agriculture Department.

Meanwhile, Vietnam shocked all rice traders - in particular Thai exporters - with the lowest offering price of the year to international buyers last weekend, as it wants to accelerate the sale of its rice as it has a lower capacity to maintain stocks.

The Thai Rice Exporters Association said Vietnam offered the lowest export rice price of $350 per tonne for 5-per-cent white rice. This is the lowest price that the world's second-biggest rice exporter has gained this year.

The low quoted price will put pressure on the export prices of other countries, it said.

The rice price was quoted at more than $1,000 per tonne last May.

But so far, the market price has dropped to $625 per tonne for 100-per-cent white rice, and to $609 per tonne for 5-per-cent white rice.

Chookiat Ophaswongse, president of the association, said Vietnam's move had allowed buyers to bargain for lower prices by delaying placing orders.

The association will next month conduct a business trip to Vietnam seeking for more cooperation on rice trading, he said.