All Thai farmers to be paid for pledged rice soon

BANGKOK, June 6 (TNA) - The state-run Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) says that all Thai farmers are expected to receive money for their grains sold to the previous government's rice-pledging scheme by this month. BAAC Executive Vice President Supat Eauchai told journalists on Friday that his bank has already paid about 43 billion baht to local farmers who joined the scheme and were not yet paid by the previous government. Supat acknowledged that the BAAC will have to pay additional 50 billion baht to local farmers. According to the BAAC executive vice president, local farmers should receive their money by June 20, 2014, as the army-led National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), which has seized national administrative power since May 22, has ordered his bank to speed up paying money to the remaining farmers. The BAAC executive vice president revealed that his bank has paid to local farmers joining the rice-pledging scheme about 4-5 billion baht a day. Meanwhile, BAAC on Friday morning gave details to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) as the last witness for the alleged-corruption rice-pledging scheme. BAAC is one of four concerned state agencies asked by the independent anti-graft commission to provide additional information on the scheme, apart from the Commerce Ministry’s Department of Internal Trade, the Finance Ministry and a sub-committee responsible for closing accounts of the rice-pledging scheme. (TNA)