Govt issues warning to 'rubber hoarders' believed to be behind rallies

He did not identify any group, but hinted that “hoarders of rubber supply”, who he said would benefit handsomely from government permission to intervene in raw rubber sheet prices, may be behind the protests.
“The government now knows who is supporting the protests, and demands that you stop, or government inspections will be conducted to check out your rubber stockpiles,” he said, without elaborating.
 Citing an effort by Deputy Interior Minister Visarn Techateerawat to talk with the Democrats about the situation, Charupong said Visarn personally knew many Democrat Party MPs based in the South.
Charupong said certain Democrat MPs in Nakhon Si Thammarat, where the protests and clashes took place, had called him and promised to mediate with the protesters to seek an end to the rallies.
Visarn had earlier said that three senior Democrat MPs had met with protest leaders and helped calm them down, and that some protesters said yesterday they would be willing to negotiate with the government through the chief of Cha-uat district, and began dismantling a number of tents erected at the rally site.
He said owners of rubber plantations, as well as tappers, needed to agree among themselves about sharing of benefits resulting from a government promise of a per-rai subsidy of Bt2,520 to owners of no more than 25 rai.
A leader of rubber farmers in Surat Thani, Kittisak Wiroj, called on the media to report the incident impartially, and complained about television news coverage reporting only on action and statements by authorities and the police.
Meanwhile, the Thai Journalists Association and the Thai Broadcast Journalists Association issued a statement yesterday urging both protesting rubber farmers and police in Nakhon Si Thammarat to refrain from using violence and harassing journalists. The groups vowed journalists would remain impartial in carrying out their duties.
The statement came after a major clash between protesters and police on Monday in the province’s Cha-uat district left many people injured.
While stressing the need to ensure the safety of journalists covering such conflicts, the associations also urged the media not to report in a way that could fan hatred and to be well-rounded in their coverage. Both police and protesters, the statement said, must understand the important role of the media in presenting multifaceted accounts of what is happening on the ground, and should refrain from harassing or threatening reporters.
In the event of any unfair reporting, the groups called on the affected parties to take legal action and not to resort to violence.
Thai PBS also issued a statement saying its staff covered the news impartially and professionally. The statement followed an attack on a vehicle and some journalists from the TV station.