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The Commerce Ministry will soon propose that the Rice Policy and Management Committee launch a measure to shore up rice prices for the upcoming second crop.
Boonyarit Kalayanamit, director-general of the Internal Trade Department, said the ministry would propose driving up the market price to Bt8,000-Bt8,500 a tonne of paddy.
However, the ministry is also projecting that the second crop will be much lower in volume than last year’s, dropping from about 8 million tonnes to only 6.8 million because of drought and less plantation area.
The government will encourage millers to purchase rice for no less than Bt8,000 a tonne. The government will also provide soft loans at 3-per-cent interest so millers can purchase rice and stock it for three or four months, he said.

LONG WALKS AT PHUKET AIRPORT
Airports of Thailand (AOT) officers are scrambling to take care of passengers arriving on charter flights at Phuket International Airport, as the tourists’ buses are now being forced to park at one of the unfinished parking buildings.
“Due to the airport expansion, buses have to park quite far away from the terminal,” said Pakin Sirijun, deputy vice president of the AOT’s Landside Airport Operations Department.
“Monday was the first day that we had the buses parking in front of the new parking building, and it caused problems.”
Pakin said AOT officers and Phuket International Airport staffers were aware of the inconvenience and were working on finding a solution, as the airport expansion, which will have an indoor walkway, will not be complete for at least another two years.
“We have had vans shuttling some passengers to the buses, but that hasn’t been enough,” he said, adding that officials would meet today “to brainstorm a more convenient option for group-tour passengers”.
Though charter-flight passengers are being forced into a long walk with baggage to and from the airport, cars are still able to drop off and pick up people in front of the terminal as usual, Pakin said.
“We are sorry about any inconvenience, and will have this sorted out as soon as possible.” – Phuket Gazette

TMB BANK ISSUES FIRST THAI DIM SUM
TMB Bank has issued Thailand’s first dim sum bond, in an offering that comes amid one of the lowest yuan-US dollar exchange rates since 2012.
A dim sum bond is one issued outside China but denominated in yuan, or renminbi.
The three-year Regulation S senior unsecured bonds are priced to yield 5.5 per cent to raise 600 million yuan (Bt3 billion).
Dim sum syndicate bankers said they hoped the milestone bond would encourage other non-Chinese entities to tap the market, though they conceded it was unlikely, given how much cheaper it was to issue in US dollars.
The issue also followed an unexpected People’s Bank of China move to cut interest rates, something that could devalue the yuan further and decelerate an already sluggish dim sum market. – Reuters