• 
• 

The Thai Farmers Association has threatened to lead 10,000 ploughing tractors to protest at the four corners of Bangkok on Monday in a bid to receive payment from the government's rice-pledging programme.

Farmers say they have suffered from a cash-flow shortage after waiting for money from the government for a month. So far, they have carried their rice to rice-mill warehouses under the government guarantee.

The association has asked for payment from the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives, which is directly responsible for the programme. A bank spokeswoman said funds from the Finance Ministry had not reached it. The farmers then went to the Finance Ministry, where they were told they had to wait for the Commerce Ministry to finish its rice-bidding process.

The Commerce Ministry recently opened a rice auction for 3.1 million tonnes. But it had to reduce that figure to 2.1 million tonnes, as the offered price for a 1-million-tonne lot was too low. The ministry is negotiating with bidders to increase prices.

Association president Prasit Boonchuey said farmers were waiting for the government to name rice millers in its price-intervention project. However, only a small number of rice millers have been approved to join the rice-intervention project.

Farmers may receive lower prices from the millers, depending on the moisture content of the rice.

A Commerce Ministry source said the Public Warehouse Organisation had passed along a list of winners in the ministry's recent rice bidding to Minister Chaiya Sasomsap.

CP Intertrade is expected to win the biggest allocation of rice.