The national carrier will also create a new menu to introduce specialty rice grains to increase consumption of Thai rice, while providing free areas for farmers at its cooperatives to sell their products as well as allowing the sale of packed rice at its shops at Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports.
The development followed a meeting between the company’s Thai Employees’ Saving & Credit Cooperatives Ltd and Commerce Minister Apiradi Tantraporn.
Kanok Thongpurk, president to Saving & Credit Cooperatives, said that THAI will ask for contact lists of rice farmer cooperatives so farmers will be able to sell directly to the airline’s cooperatives, retail shops and markets, located at THAI office areas.
The specialty rice THAI will serve on its flights include riceberry and sung yod. Rice is served with up to 80 per cent of the airline’s dishes.
THAI’s kitchen use about two tonnes of premium grade hom mali rice each day.
Kanok said that as THAI has more than 20,000 employees, the selling of rice directly at cooperative shops should help absorb the cost of selling rice from markets.
Starting from next week, the rice packs should be available at THAI shops and cooperatives.
Representatives from farmer cooperatives will also be able to sell rice at flea markets in THAI office areas.
Meanwhile, Malee Choklumlerd, director-general of the International Trade Promotion Department, said that the department could help train 20 local farmers to trade rice online through the website Thaitrade.com.
More farmers should be trained to sell rice directly to consumers, in particular to foreign buyers, via online channels, she said.
The department has launched the Thai Smart Farmers Promotion project to help train farmers to be online traders, she said, adding that farmers can join the project for free.