Farmer's suicide blamed on poor rubber prices
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A 60-year-old rubber farmer hanged himself yesterday in Bung Kan's So Pisai district, possibly because he was stressed by the plummeting price of rubber.
Lert Heudkhunthot was found hanging from a rubber tree one kilometre from Ban Saeng Arun in Tambon Sri Chompoo. His 51-year-old wife, Kham, told police that Lert devoted his life to their eight-rai rubber plantation but he had been increasingly stressed by the Bt16 per kilogram rubber price, which possibly led to his suicide.
Thossapol Kwanrod, the leader of a group of rubber farmers, yesterday appealed to Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha to help them via the PM’s Secretary’s Office public service centre. The group urged the authorities to allow undocumented rubber farmers access to government aid and the farmer registration procedure.
They also asked Prayut to speed up payment of a Bt1,500-per-rai subsidy and set the terms of reference for state procurement of rubber from agricultural institutes or local rubber farmers. They urged for control over the commodity product prices to help farmers faced with high living costs.
