Krungthep Thurakij wins top award for reports on govt rice-pledging scheme

A series of articles covering the government's controversial rice-pledging scheme has won Krungthep Thurakij, a sister publication of The Nation, the prestigious Isra Amantakul Award.

The articles, which exposed corruption in the scheme along with its many problems, hold a lot of significance because the government has already spent at least Bt450 billion on this controversial scheme. While the scheme has boosted the price of Thai rice, the real benefits have barely reached poor farmers. Also, the export of Thai rice dropped significantly last year because the price of rice grown elsewhere was a lot lower.

The Krungthep Turakij articles also helped raise questions about why the government withheld information on its plan to sell rice stored under the rice-pledging scheme via a government-to-government deal. The subject later became a hot topic in the censure debate.

The Nation