Thai farmers get money for pledged rice

BANGKOK, May 26 (TNA) - The Thai military, in cooperation with the state-run Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC), has announced to clear all overdue payment, totally worth over 92 billion baht, to farmers pledging their rice with the government by the end of next month. Major General Chartchai Onnuam, Director-General of the Veterinary & Remount Department, told journalists on Monday that the money was set to be paid through BAAC branches nationwide. Major General Chartchai said, after the payment, the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), which was first formally named the National Peace and Order Maintaining Council (NPOMC), plans to introduce immediate national economic solutions and work out electoral regulations to pave the way for Thailand's next general election soon. Accompanying Major General Chartchai to inspect preparations for the payment, BAAC President Luck Wajananawat, revealed that the Ministry of Finance will borrow 92.43 billion baht from financial institutes to completely cover the payment, with the sum to reach the BAAC on June 6-7, 2014 and the payment to over 830,000 farmers totally to be completely done by June 30. According to the BAAC president, his bank has, in the meantime, advanced 40 billion baht for the purpose so that the payment to the farmers began earlier in the day, as instructed by the NCPO. Meanwhile, crowds of local farmers gathered at BAAC branches nationwide to receive the money they had waited for 5-6 months under the official rice-pledging scheme. (TNA)