Only the rich can afford to eat safely here

The discovery that four prominent herbicides are contaminating the food chain in Nong Bua Lamphu province is very worrying. High concentrations of agrichemicals were found in vegetables, fish and other basic foods – and even in local tap water.
More worrying still is the strong evidence that the problem is a national one, with regular reports of agrichemical contamination in vegetables sold in other parts of Thailand.
While it seems that quality standards for our exported vegetables are high and rigorously monitored, domestic consumers are not being offered such protection and so face much higher risks of consuming unsafe food.
However, one source of food that is likely to be free of such dangers is organically grown produce. The trade-off, of course, is price, but if Thai consumers can swallow the extra cost then the domestic market for organic food could grow significantly. 
Yet the majority of us will still be dependent on agrichemical-grown produce, for reasons of cost or simply because we aren’t aware of health considerations. 
So we still need proper and practical rules for producing safe and cheap vegetables for domestic consumers. The latest health scare shows that need is now an urgent one.
Sutipunt Bongsununt