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Thailand Agrarian Policy in Peril
Dr. Rainer Adam
Regional Director for Southeast and East Asia, Bangkok
The Friedrich Naumann Foundation
International Centre for Land Policy Studies and Training, Taiwan
10th October, 2013
Policy in Peril
Background
42% Employment in Agriculture
12% of GDP
>50% of agriculture land used for farming
30% of world market of rice in mid-2000’s
Decreasing Rice Prices
Thailand’s Rice Exports
Farmers and Political Power
INTENT
Government to Government (G2G) Sales
Trade Consequences
World market share:
30% in 2010-11 to
19% in 2011-12
Export volume:
10m tons in 2008 to
6.94m tons in 2012
6.5m tons for 2013 (forecast)
Revenue:
US$6 billion in 2011 to
US$3.7 billion in 2012.
Secrecy and Non Transparency
Winners and Losers
Susceptibility to Corruption
The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) is
investigating about 100 cases of corruption.
Range of cases suggests corruption in almost every stage
of the system.
Summary 1 of 2
1. Pheu Thai government tried to increase income of farmers.
2. Rice market is monopolized.
3. Thailand’s international competitiveness is jeopardised.
Summary 2 of 2
4. Economic losses out of proportion to alleged gains.
5. Greatest gainers are wealthy farms and grain mills.
6. Corruption charges demonstrates manipulability of scheme.
Rubber Subsidies - Back to the future?
Recommendations
Recommendations Part 1 –
Increased Employment Opportunities
Creation of alternative employment opportunities in rural areas by:
- Farmers children given opportunities to receive training in
other sectors.
- Weighted vouchers for education and training based on
needs.
Recommendations Part 2 –
Crop Diversification and Productivity
- Temporary graded vouchers for seeds, fertilizers and
pesticides to help farmers diversify their crops.
- Other vouchers for technologically advanced equipment
and tools to raise productivity and lower costs of
production.
Recommendations Part 3 –
Infrastructure Improvements
- Public funding for infrastructure and agricultural research.
- Investment in irrigation systems to raise productivity.
Recommendations Part 4 –
Targeted Assistance
- Replacement of blanket subsidies with targeted assistance
for farmers legitimately in need.
- The current scheme ignores these people the most.
Recommendations Part 5 –
Special Assistance
- Establishment of a crop insurance scheme and disaster
relief.
- Therefore only providing temporary funds to disaster
victims.
Projected Results
- These alternatives would transform the state based
economic agrarian policy to one in-line with market
forces.
- More diversification, more productivity, better social
justice, less public debt, economically and ecologically
sustainable and more prosperous.
Thank you!