Yingluck hit with Bt286 million damage bill over rice scheme

The report also states that nearly 13 million tonnes of rice remains in the government’s inventory.

PM’s Office Minister ML Panadda Diskul said the report would be discussed at a committee meeting chaired by the prime minister on Tuesday. 

According to the report by Jirachai Moonthongro, who heads the civil liability fact-finding committee looking into the scheme initiated by the Yingluck government, Yingluck is liable for an estimated Bt286 billion in damages and Boonsong Bt18.7 billion.

The Yingluck government spent a huge amount of state money to buy rice from farmers at a price much higher than the market value, resulting in losses estimated at more than Bt500 billion. 

Nearly 13 million tonnes remains in the government’s inventory because less than a million tonnes was exported, the report found.

ML Panadda said the measures taken against the previous government should serve as a lesson as politicians could be liable for civil liability for policies that caused financial damage to taxpayers.

Jirachai said Yingluck’s civil liability figure was cited during his testimony before the Supreme Court on a related criminal case against her for alleged negligence while Boonsong’s damage bill was caused by fake government-to-government rice deals during his tenure.