Ideas raised to help Thai farmers

BANGKOK, February 19 (TNA) - Three ideas have been raised to assist Thai farmers who are affected by delayed payment of the official rice-pledging scheme. The three ideas were raised by the Thai Ministry of Commerce, the Farmers Thai Rice Association and the Thai Rice Mills Association on Wednesday, as they jointly worked out assistance for the affected farmers. Wichian Phuanglamjiak, President of the Farmers Thai Rice Association, told reporters that the three assistance initiatives include firstly, farmers and the general public will be encouraged to transfer their deposits to the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Co-operatives (BAAC) so that the BAAC can lend to needy farmers. Secondly, donations will be raised to set up a fund for rice growers, with its account number 02-00-33-11-9718 having been opened at the Nonthaburi branch of the BAAC. The fund will support the next cultivation of rice growers and the Farmers Thai Rice Association will manage it. Thirdly, a Thai rice growers’ bank will be established to be realized as a farmer-initiated BAAC. Meanwhile, Caretaker Deputy Commerce Minister Yanyong Phuangrach said that the three ideas are realistic, especially the transfers of deposits to the BAAC, noting that he would, himself, move his deposits from other banks to the BAAC to convince the BAAC to help farmers. Yanyong pointed out that the Thai rice growers’ fund would be a good start and it might be set up with taxes collected from rice millers and rice exporters which can contribute more than one billion baht to the fund annually.(TNA)