Govt to go ahead with rubber purchase

THE GOVERNMENT will start buying 100,000 tonnes of unsmoked rubber sheets from farmers for Bt45 per kilogram from Monday. 

The price is significantly higher than the market price of about Bt37. 

Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister General Chatchai Sarikalya yesterday disclosed that the purchase would go ahead regardless of whether the Council of State ruled in favour of the plan to buy rubber from the struggling sector using the so-called cess fund, which is money obtained from excise duty on rubber. 

The Council of State will announce its ruling today as to whether the cess fund can be used for such purchases. 

“If we can’t use the cess fund, we will seek loans from the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives as well as the Government Savings Bank,” Chatchai said. 

Last week, the Cabinet approved the plan to spend Bt5.4 billion on rubber purchases to help shore up the rubber price.

Culture Minister Veera Rojpojanarat yesterday said his ministry would also help with rubber issue by staging the “Thailand PARAdise Creation 2016” contest. 

Contestants must submit their rubber creations to the contest for a chance to win Bt1 million prize and a trophy. 

Veera said a panel of judges would hand-pick the 234 most outstanding entries and put them on display at an exhibition that will be held between April 16 and 30.

“During the exhibition, people will vote on which exhibits should win the prize.” 

He said the Culture Ministry had come up with this initiative after Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha instructed all ministries to consider ways to ease the rubber-price crisis. 

Prince of Songkla University, meanwhile, is gathering information on students whose lives are affected by the crisis. 

Some students have refused to register for new courses, while some others have asked to postpone paying tuition. 

“I will discuss remedial actions during a meeting with deans next month,” the university’s president Associate Professor Chusak Limsakul said. 

In a bid to ease rubber farmers’ woes, the government has also offered compensation of Bt1,500 per rai for their families.