Rice policy cooked for political profit
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A group of academics say the government's rice pledging programme violates the Constitution, Section 84 (1), which says the state must encourage "a free and fair economic system through market mechanism" and must refrain from "engagement in an enterprise
They say the government’s pledging programme is ruining the market mechanism and competing against rice exporters. Good point.
But if they read on to Section 84 (8), the Constitution also says the state must “protect and maintain the interests of farmers in manufacturing and marketing, ensuring maximise profits of the farm products”. Hmm…
Forget the market mechanism, price distortion, and Thailand having lost the export crown to Vietnam. The bottom line is the current rice policy benefits farmers but hurts rice exporters. By contrast, the Democrats’ rice policy enriched exporters but kept farmers down in the dumps.
Meechai Burapa
Chiang Mai
