Thaksin Shinawatra in 2008 – PKittiwongsakul / Shutterstock.com
Interview with Khun Thaksin Shinawatra (Former Prime Minister), aka Tony Woodsome, part 2.
Int: Good morning Khun Tony.
Tony: You soon get used to it, I hear. The last time we spoke you said that you still have questions about the agricultural problem in Thailand. That is indeed a big problem because it affects so many Thais.
Int: But also a complex problem in terms of content, isn't it?
Tony: Yes, there are a number of things going on at the same time. Let's talk about rice cultivation first because the other sectors such as fishing and fruit growing have partly different problems.1. The low productivity of labor: many hours of work with a low yield and profit in terms of money; 2. The small number of farmers who grow organic rice, which yields more per hectare and more per kilo on the world market, and also uses less water. Glutinous rice is poor people's food and has a low market value; 3. Lack of innovation. People still cultivate according to father's and grandfather's methods; 4. Many farmers are over 60 and have no successor; 5. Many farmers are actually hobby farmers and do other things to earn an income, or receive money from the children; 6. Lack of cooperation between farmers and other stakeholders; 7. Hardly any use of social media as a sales channel, but mainly own and local consumption; 8. Lack of up-to-date knowledge about basically everything; 9. Little enthusiasm to adapt existing behavior to the demands of the times 10. Farmers have pieces of land that are far apart; 11. Borrowing too much money for a profitable business .
Int: Well, that's quite a list. And quite a puzzle for a Minister of Agriculture.
Tony: Yes, but now I'm happy myself. And also nice that you compare it to a puzzle. During my stay in Dubai I got to know and appreciate Jan van Haasteren's puzzles. They are beautiful and they are not ready 1-2-3 (https://ww.grooves.land/). I am thinking of giving every house in every village in Isan a matching rice paddy puzzle if my plans go ahead. Better than those 1,8 million tablets for the kids a few years ago because that was a flop.
Int: Yes, I know them. There is also a Sinterklaas in every puzzle.
Tony: I found out about that too, yes. But Tony Tony is not going to play Sinterklaas anymore. But can you tell me how to start with such a 1000 piece puzzle?
Int: I always start by making the outer border, the frame.
Tony: Right, and you have to if you want to solve the problems of agriculture. First the edges, in other words: what are the absolute boundary conditions for a solution?
Int: You probably know them, I don't.
Tony: It is certain that a large number of farmers, mostly older hobby farmers, have no successor who is willing to grow glutinous rice on the piece of land or pieces of land in the same way and live in poverty for years. If the land is not used for another purpose (eg construction of a house or a road), it will lie fallow. Actually, that is a shame, of course, and it lowers the production of rice in the country, and also the (small) income. We must prevent that. My government will come up with the following plan: cooperatives will be established in all villages in the Isan in which everyone who has land and wants to (everything is voluntary) contributes his land. The owner receives a monthly fee for this, you could say a rent. And in addition an amount of free rice per month for own consumption. The more land you bring in, the more rent you get and the more rice. For this, the proceeds of the harvest are waived. It's from the cooperative. The cooperative also determines what is grown, how often and how the land is worked. That will be more modern business operations than now, with planting and harvesting machines and so on. If the older farmer still wants to work on the land under the supervision of the cooperative, he/she will receive a compensation of 500 Baht per day. For the rest, the cooperative employs employees with a fixed salary, preferably from their own region. For example, in the future the Isaan will consist of interlocking puzzle pieces, cooperatives. The cooperative can buy land from, or trade with, another neighboring cooperative to prevent owners from belonging to multiple cooperatives.
Int: And what happens to the proceeds? And who will pay for all that, rent and salaries?
Tony: The yield of the harvest is basically not publicly marketed because the prices of rice are too low for this and will probably remain so. Agreements are made with buyers in advance about the price of the rice to be supplied. I am thinking of Chinese cities that are willing to pay the monthly costs of x number of cooperatives in exchange for rice. Ideally, for example, a Chinese city like Kunming, with a population of about 6,6 million, would be able to finance the entire rice-growing outlying area of Surin with the security of rice all year round at a reasonable price.
Int: That looks like a win-win situation. The Thai farmers get money and work if they want it; the Chinese are guaranteed food.
Tony: Indeed. In addition, the Chinese (suppose we don't have 1 city but 20 cities that we provide with rice and perhaps also fruit) are also keen to help us with water instead of damming the Mekong. Just look at the map and see how many major Chinese cities are within a reasonable distance from the Isan, especially with a 'high speed' freight train: Nanning (7.2 million inhabitants), Guangzhou (15,3 million), Zhanjiang (2 million) , Yulin (5.7 million), Liuzhou (2,1 million), Guilin (2 million), Haikou (2 million), Guijang (4.6 million) and Changsha (8,1 million). Together with Kunming about 55 million rice and durian eaters.
Int: Doesn't sound good, but genius.
Tony: Thank you. I have not been idle in Dubai, as you can see. Many details still need to be worked out. For example, the cooperative should be given the opportunity to buy up land from farmers or their owners if they wanted to monetize the land. This means that the membership of the cooperative expires. And another, not unimportant detail: the younger agricultural employees of the cooperative, trained in a new style secondary agricultural and horticultural school, could live in the Thai villages and ensure a more balanced population structure, with all the advantages of that. They no longer have to go to the big city for work and they can take care of their children themselves. Following the example of rice cultivation, you could also think of cooperatives of fruit growers (durian, longon, pineapple, not to mention mango and mangosteen) and fishermen. From individual to collective entrepreneurship, with the help of China. That will be the slogan.
Int: What happens now to the farmers who do not want to join such a cooperative? Will they be left to fend for themselves by the Woodsome administration?
Tony: No, not that. We will help those farmers to continue their hobby farming life with some marketing activities. But for the rest you have to find out for yourself. I do not rule out the possibility that some of them are innovative enough to make a good living as an individual entrepreneur. The others eventually cease to exist, and the heirs can then sell the land to the nearest cooperative. I believe that building land that is not used as such for 10 years should revert to the government.
Int: Also to prevent speculation.
Tony: Indeed.
Int: Thank you for this interview. I go home with a lot of thinking. Thank you for the inspiration.
As the interviewer himself says, genius plan.
Let's hope that the voters feel the same way, not to mention someone in Germany, otherwise you can omit the elections.
In fact, I'm quite sure that the man in Germany is in full agreement with these plans.
Interesting to see how Tony's ideas bear a strong resemblance to those of Pridi Phanomyong in the XNUMXs. He argued for a stronger role for the government.
hi Tino,
I don't think Pridi ever mentioned the direct sale of rice to Chinese cities and the high-speed train.
The question is why all those politicians after him never had those thoughts or, if they did, never put them into reality. The ideas were probably based too much on the power of cooperation and in the Thai elite this is soon associated with social democracy or communism. Even the Red leaders are embracing neo-capitalism as a solution and are also xenophobic in their rejection of the new law that allows wealthy foreigners to buy a small piece of land.
Quote:
The question is why all those politicians after him never had those thoughts or, if they did, never put them into reality. The ideas were probably based too much on the power of cooperation and in the Thai elite this is soon associated with social democracy or communism.
You don't believe in a 'Thai elite', do you, Chris?
But you are absolutely right in this quote. Protection of the rights and privileges of the ruling class has always been one of the main goals of government.
Here's a story about that:
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/politics/349528/focus-on-father-of-thai-democracy-pridi-banomyong
Pridi Phanomyong, the bourgeois leader of the 1932 revolution, unveiled a 1933 draft National Economic Plan. Very briefly: all agricultural land had to be nationalized for a fee, the farmers would become employees of the government. He was accused of communism, had to flee but returned to Thailand in 1934.
Also later, in 1974, a new law was passed prohibiting land ownership larger than 40 rai. This was to thwart large landowners who had too much power. That law was later repealed.
I also advocate more cooperatives, but the government will have to play a greater legal role. It really doesn't work without that.
I have again read some more about Pridi Phanomyong's plans. He also proposed that, after nationalization, the management of agriculture should be transferred to co-operatives consisting of representatives of the government and farm workers. In addition, Pridi proposed that not only the farmers' employees should receive a salary, but also benefits in case of pregnancy, illness, incapacity for work, invalidity, and a pension in case of old age.
All this in 1933. Could Father Drees have borrowed his ideas from what was then Siam?
It didn't happen. Socialism! Communism!