In an op-ed in the Bangkok Post, Wichit Chantanusornsiri delivers a scathing judgment on successive governments in Thailand that fail to really address the problems in agriculture.
Over the past five years, Thailand has spent nearly 1 trillion baht on favorable loans, subsidies and aid programs for farmers. The Prayut government has also invested a lot of money in the rural economy, a total of 143 billion baht and more recently 45 billion, to help farmers with the failed harvests due to the drought and the collapse of prices of agricultural products.
According to Wichit, the financial injections will provide some relief in the short term, but in the longer term it will not solve the structural problems.
What those problems are is well known: high production costs, poor product quality, low productivity, drought and inadequate water management. Wichit cites Vietnam as an example of how things can be done differently. In Vietnam, the yield per rai of rice farmers is 853 kilos, compared to 447 kilos in Thailand. Production costs average 4.978 baht against 5.800 baht in Thailand.
Vietnam succeeds and takes measures to increase production, improve quality, increase profitability, and reduce costs and use of pesticides.
The policy of the Prayut government also does not differ from that of other governments. Yingluck's Pheu Thai government put 600-700 billion baht into the controversial rice mortgage system. The government then bought the rice from farmers for a price that was about 40 percent above market prices. The farmers were of course happy with it, but it led to a huge loss because Thai rice became too expensive on the international market.
Wichit calls it doubtful whether the 1 trillion baht invested in agriculture over the past 5 years has led to real reforms in the agricultural sector. Or are they only short-term solutions that do not tackle the problems at the source?
He believes that until now every government has chosen the same solution: to ease the suffering of the farmers with a huge bag of money. For example, the problems in agriculture are only used to strengthen the political power base of various governments. This populist policy mainly aims to win over voters, but there are no long-term and sustainable solutions.
Source: Bangkok Post
About this blogger
-
Known as Khun Peter (62), lives alternately in Apeldoorn and Pattaya. In a relationship with Kanchana for 14 years. Not yet retired, have my own company, something with insurance. Crazy about animals, especially dogs and music.
Enough hobbies, but unfortunately little time: writing for Thailandblog, fitness, health and nutrition, shooting sports, chatting with friends and some other oddities.
Read the latest articles here
HealthJanuary 21 2025AI brings breakthrough in snakebite treatment
Food and drinkJanuary 21 2025Kaeng som or Gaeng som (sour and spicy fish curry soup)
SightsJanuary 21 2025A must for art lovers: Museum of Contemporary Art in Bangkok
CalendarJanuary 19 2025Agenda: Celebrate Chinese New Year 2025 in Thailand
Assume it's about the distressed farmers in Isan. They need the most support.
Climate and soil quality in Isan are not equal to those in Vietnam and as such it is difficult to compare productivity. It is true that agriculture in Isaan is indeed not very efficient. Land consolidation? My father-in-law has a piece here and a piece there, in between pieces of others.
About like in my youth in the Netherlands the small farmers in our village.
Everything very small. Small farmers with 40 or 50 rai. Sometimes not even owned but on loan.
As far as I know, but I may be wrong, no cooperatives. Collective purchasing, including machines, pesticides, fertilizers, etc. This reduces costs. Good, but I also left my village in the Netherlands years ago to move to Amsterdam. Maybe I'm wrong.
Society in Vietnam is a bit more intelligent if you ask me. For example, Vietnam is already taking very drastic measures against traffic congestion. Measures for the environment and spatial planning are also very visible. Vietnam therefore looks at the outside world with an open mind….Thailand is completely withdrawing into itself.
Strange as it sounds, but could that have anything to do with never really being colonized? This is usually seen as an advantage. But yes, they are very navel-gazing. By the way: not only government money disappears into a bottomless pit. Money from well-meaning married-in farangs also usually disappears without a trace.
Also in the "granary", Central Thailand, you constantly hear stories of people who are in debt and, despite the 2nd or 3rd harvest, are unable to really improve their existence.
Think that it does not put the consumption to the business or many farmers cannot get their financial picture round. In addition, it has been said before, in this Thailand blog, that land ownership is constantly decreasing and people are becoming tenants of what used to be their own land. Because of taking on debts with the land as collateral, which will eventually be lost due to non-payment.
The Vietnam story should serve as a guideline for Thailand. Educate the farmers and teach them how to work their land in a better way and you will get the same turnaround as in Vietnam. But I have not read that initiative anywhere. The same with the progression of learning the English language. Here, too, Vietnam has started to do considerably better. A good example is good, but I don't hear anyone talking about it in Thailand.
In addition, it also believes that there should also be a clear emphasis on preventing debts, in other words, ensuring that buffers are built up, financial reserves. So that you can pay for the planting etc. of the next harvest and you do not have to take out loans. Thailand is notorious in Asia for its high household debts. It is precisely a sense of thrift and good financial management that would contribute to a real improvement such as in Vietnam. But the national character here is mirroring the neighbor and living more by the day. This is in contrast to many other Asian countries where owning property, family capital, is important and gives prestige.
As in many other areas (such as, for example, spatial planning and education), Thailand does not have an agricultural policy, but a series of interrelated and unrelated measures. Liberalism is actually dominant in all parties, including those who say they are committed to the poor regions. There is hardly any consistent and sustainable policy, while the problems (summed up in the article) have been the same for years and are becoming increasingly acute.
In the Netherlands, we introduced the so-called OVO model in agricultural policy decades ago. OVO stands for: Education, Information and Research. I studied at the agricultural university and even individual farmers could take their problems to the various faculties (livestock, plant cultivation, agricultural engineering, soil science). Subsequently, solutions to the problem were worked on, systematically and where necessary interdisciplinary. Farmers were also encouraged to work together to increase their incomes. The first cooperative in the Netherlands, in Aardenburg, in 1863, was not called “Well-beunderstood Self-interest” for nothing.
You compare the Thai agricultural sector with the Dutch and when I read what Dutch farmers and market gardeners can fall back on everywhere, then it should all go perfectly, but at the first 'extreme weather' people also run into problems. Not only all specialized agencies, but also the farmers have been taught for years and the most modern tools and computers available, rain radars, etc. There are many times when it is of no use to you and you are dependent on unexpected circumstances. As soon as a large sales area disappears (sanctions on Russia, for example), there is an over-capacity with all the consequences that entails. Then there are the quotas. They need grants and insurance payments as well as loans to try and stay afloat. It is difficult to predict these days, especially in the long term. Then there is a difference whether one is working on a small scale or on a large scale. A Thai smallholder with a diversity of products and livestock, self-supporting and some left over to sell locally to also have some money to spend, they seem to me to have the greatest chance of a healthy and happy life.
I have yet to meet the first Thai who can handle a hand full of money: usually: spend as quickly as possible on fun things and… the day after tomorrow… there is not even a word for that in Thailand. Save ? ? ? Well: we “borrow” from someone who does have it. “Borrowing” from family and acquaintances is more in the form of a donation and we'll see what comes back. For financiers… it often means: collateral = lost land. But… that is far away in time, and… who then lives, who then cares.
Furthermore, the dictatorship of the history books applies in Vietnam = how do I get myself mentioned in it, or: ensure an excellent legacy in the improvement of the country, while in Thailand "democracy" applies. In other words: how do I get votes for my (re)election: make sure that the voters get enough nice promises and preferably also something directly tangible (20-50 THB for example).
Moreover, the Politicians and Administrators are so much stronger than the small farmers - without strong cooperatives - that no farmer dares to do anything against them.
So NOTHING is done about the problem solving for the (further) future. See also the floods in 1942-1995-2011 and now again May 2016
Long-term thinking is not in the nature of the Thais or the Thai governments. I have argued that what the governments were doing for the agricultural sector was populist maneuvering and basically a tip when you compare it with the multi-billion dollar investment in Bangkok and tourist areas.
It seems unwilling to do anything for the poor areas.
It is already clear that it concerns a 'structural problem' and 'intelligence'. They try to keep the economy and the country running with 'poop and water'. I have sometimes written constructive comments on articles in the Bangkok Post that went unpublished when referring to informative visits to countries with extensive experience in a particular field. What's wrong with looking across borders to gain knowledge?
But as far as 'agriculture' is concerned, it is about more than just rice cultivation. My Thai son-in-law is called home by his mother while he now earns enough in Bangkok to send his mother enough money monthly to stay alive but they planted a few thousand rubber trees on their land 10 years ago because they were government encouraged to do so because of a long-term business, looking ahead. First make land suitable, then take care of the trees for 6 years before one could generate income, that costs a lot of money and patience, one must also be able to survive that time. At that time, the Thai government could have known that the Chinese who bought up the rubber were planting their own plantations in other countries! That 6 years later they would no longer be dependent on Thailand alone and would reduce buying up over the years, so Thailand would no longer have a market for their rubber. They should have known this! If the farmers start losing money instead of making money, the government will think of paying a minimum price to keep things alive. That makes no sense. My son-in-law tells me he can't go back to the village until he's saved enough to cut down the trees and turn the farm around. He doesn't want to borrow. He is sensible and lucky to have a job. I have advised my daughter to stay financially independent and work 'out of the house' so that they always have money to live on when they go back to live off the farm.
I once set up a spice farm in Thailand for my former in-laws. I found a customer for fresh herbs in Amsterdam. They wanted to take Basil from me because the high season was in December and they then got the herbs from under the glass from Israel and Spain, for example, and the aroma is not as good as when it is grown in the open air. I convinced them that I could grow it all year round in Thailand and supply them. They sent me the seed because Thai Basil had a different taste than Dutch. The delivery condition was 'cash payment after inspection of the quality' and the goods had to be offered in Amsterdam within 24 hours after harvesting. It was risky and not easy. My ex-in-laws pretended to be 'farmers' but they had no land. I rented 30 Rai with a small lake. My ex went to learn the trade at a North Limburg grower and would be able to do it independently. I started looking into logistics, packaging, export, etc. I was the only investor and paid 15 people every day (including 7 members of my ex-in-laws) and 2 pick-ups on credit. I installed the entire Sprinkler system and experimented with the best growing soil. I did it for them because I was and never will be a farmer or breeder. But unfortunately I had to be in Bangkok a lot at Don Muang Airport Cargo Department, with the result that people on the farm in Udorn Thani did not work but gambled and drank and meanwhile the worms ate the herbs so that I could not deliver to the customer frequently and for the Importer the same to his restaurants. There was no respect, no sense of responsibility, no initiative, people preferred to drive around with my pick-up, window open, cigarette in mouth. Sometimes I was forced to stay on the farm to show them what work was all about. Apparently my ex was too young to manage the farm, she couldn't give assignments to the older employees and her parents who were the same age as me but couldn't work anymore (they thought). It is therefore also about a piece of mentality, which of course does not apply to all Thai farmers, but it does to many.
I've long since given up on helping out, but maybe I'll get involved again later when my son-in-law returns to his farm? Above all, he must also grow a crop that can be sold daily so that he has some cash available every day, then something for the medium-long term and so on ... I believe that people should orientate themselves on the international market and be able to insure themselves of a sales area and then calculate whether it is at least possible to compete on a cost-effective basis with the existing markets. I once used 'Trading' to enter products into existing markets. People are always skeptical when a stranger comes to offer their product. The potential buyers are afraid of losing their already known suppliers, even if it is not perfect….it is difficult to intervene.
What about agricultural education in Thailand? My ex-Dutch father-in-law was an information officer for agriculture and livestock in the northern part of Limburg when land consolidation was still current. Are there such 'well-trained extension workers' in Thailand who guide farmers? also help with business planning with which one can go to the bank?
But since the El-Nino plays a major role and people are forced to move and all circumstances change unpredictably, it is very difficult to think and advise in the long term.
Now let's just be honest, Thailand is still in the feudal era.
And the 600 families who have something to do with the milk want to keep it that way, because they benefit from it.
For them it is after them the deluge.
Because they have not been colonized, the elite have never really been subjugated and they have been bullied by mainly the English and French, e.g. forced to hand over pieces of their empire, which has caused quite a bit of bad blood. And Thailand has nothing else to offer. This and with Buddhism has made them into navel-gazers and often focused on inner peace and become quite detached from the world, but yes, one has to get something on the table if one wants to survive.