Anti-corruption commission targets Prime Minister Yingluck

The question is, has Prime Minister Yingluck neglected her duties as chair of the National Rice Policy Committee? If so, she could be prosecuted and her political career would come to an end.

After 1 year of investigation, 100 witnesses and more than 10.000 pages of evidence, the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) has decided to prosecute 15 people for corruption in rice deals and to conduct a thorough investigation into Yingluck's role. The suspects include former Minister Boonsong Teriyapirom (Trade) and his Secretary of State Poom Sarapol.

NACC Commissioner Vichai Mahakhun denies that the NACC has accelerated its investigation into the matter to end the current political deadlock. The decision to prosecute came on the advice of a sub-committee investigating allegations of rampant corruption in the rice mortgage system.

About Yingluck's role, Vichai says that the committee has indications that she knew about the irregularities, but failed to intervene. The same commission that investigated the corruption allegations will investigate Yingluck. The committee is expected to come to a conclusion within a week. Yingluck will then be given the opportunity to defend herself, after which the NACC may decide to formally charge her. The entire procedure takes one month.

The 15 suspects are involved in a rice deal with two Chinese state-owned companies. Quite a complicated case, in which two things stand out: that rice was never exported to China and it would not be a so-called G-to-G deal (government to government). (Source: Bangkok Post, January 17, 2014)

Photos: Rice farmers from Bang Sai (Ayutthaya) show documents with the names of farmers who have still not received money for their paddy.

More rice news

The farmers who have been waiting for money for their surrendered rice since the beginning of October are going to sue the government. They demand the promised guaranteed price plus interest, as most of the farmers have had to borrow money for their daily necessities. It is estimated that the total amount is 80 billion baht.

Meanwhile, the government is trying to get the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC), which pre-finances the rice mortgage system, to pay farmers out of their own liquidity. But the board of directors refuses. In a few days, the bank will run out of money to pay farmers.

Since the start of the current rice season, farmers have surrendered 9,97 million tons of paddy, for which they should receive 100 billion baht. The BAAC has so far paid out 50 billion baht to farmers who have surrendered a total of 3,5 million tons.

The bank eagerly awaits money from the Ministry of Commerce, but the Ministry is barely able to sell the rice bought up in the previous two seasons. It has a target of monthly sales of 1 million tons worth 12 billion baht, but in some months sales have stalled at 3 billion baht.

The situation has been made worse as the ministry postponed the auction of 150.000 tons through the Agricultural Futures Exchange of Thailand for a week until Wednesday. The rallies would be to blame for that.

The Thai Agriculturist Association says large numbers of farmers in Pichit, Nakhon Sawan, Sukothai, Ayutthaya and Kamphaeng Phet and almost all provinces in the North are complaining about late payments. They are now discussing legal proceedings with lawyers and many are threatening to join the protests of the anti-government movement. (Source: Bangkok Post, January 16, 2014)

Explanation

The rice mortgage system, reintroduced by the Yingluck government, was launched in 1981 by the Ministry of Commerce as a measure to alleviate the oversupply of rice in the market. It provided farmers with short-term income, allowing them to postpone selling their rice.

It is a system in which farmers receive a fixed price for their paddy (unhusked rice). Or rather: with the rice as collateral, they take out a mortgage with the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives.

The Yingluck government has set the price for a ton of white rice at 15.000 baht and Hom Mali at 20.000 baht, depending on quality and humidity. In practice, farmers often receive less.

Because the prices paid by the government are 40 percent above market prices, it is better to speak of a subsidy system, because no farmer pays off the mortgage and sells the rice on the open market.

The story of Wandee Bualek (25)

Wandee in tambon Phai Phra (Ayutthaya) has been waiting for payment for six months, but she has not given up hope that the government will eventually provide money. "We farmers have never cheated anyone, so why is the government lying?"

She still has to receive 300.000 baht from the government. Debts she has incurred for tools, rice varieties and fertilizers must be paid off from this. She has it for that farm credit card which offers a line of credit of 50.000 baht each.

She borrowed 3 baht from a money loan shark (interest: 100.000 percent) and family to survive and hire workers for the new harvest. She has to pay 300 baht per day; the rent of a rice field costs 2.000 to 3.000 baht per rai (1600 square meters).

To keep their heads above water, Wandee and her husband now do extra chores to get a monthly income of 3.000 baht, so that the mouths of the two young children can be filled.