Next Thai govt should focus on improving rice strains, competitiveness, not subsidies, say exporters

The association’s president, Charoen Laothamatas, said the new government after the upcoming general election should have policies that would not interfere with the rice market’s price mechanism.

Also, the policy should promote the development of new rice strains that meet consumer demands, which he described as a “big problem” for Thailand’s rice industry when compared to major competitors like Vietnam.

He said Thailand has lost a large portion of its share in the world market to Vietnam.

He said income guarantees for farmers should be a temporary policy to help them financially. “But what the new government has to think about is to develop new rice strains that meet market demands. And they should have high yields and be harvestable in a short time. The goal should be to improve Thailand’s competitiveness,” Charoen said.

He said that recent governments had mainly focused on rice price while adopting populist policies, which he viewed as unsustainable.

“How can Thailand compete [in the world market] this way? The government must have a lot of funds all the time [to finance the populist projects],” Charoen said, adding that over 100 billion baht is required in the state budget each year.

“All the political parties have ways to distribute the budget but they have no policies to encourage the farmers to stand on their own feet,” he said.

Thailand also needs to improve its logistics capabilities, particularly shipping, he said. “Thailand is an exporting country, but we have no shipping company. We always need to rely on other countries,” Charoen said.

He noted that the current government has set a five-year strategy for Thai rice to get 12 new rice strains through national contests. “But I am not sure if a new government will continue with this strategy. Rice policies must be continuous and implemented for the long term,” he added.

Charoen said the Thai rice sector is seeing a better outlook this year, with more exports, although rice exporters are concerned about fluctuations in the baht’s value. He said the rapid changes in the Thai currency’s value – between 32 and 35 baht per dollar – over the recent months have dented the country’s competitiveness when compared to its competitors.