Thai farmers falling victim to outdated values
With Buddhism as its majority religion, Thai society’s ethical norms are based largely on religious morality. Some insist that these norms underpin the national identity that holds this country together, but others suggest they may also be the very thing trapping Thailand and impeding its development.
The Thai people are well known for being kind and generous, in line with the Buddhist principle of metta. Thailand had safety nets and systems to help underprivileged citizens long before the emergence of the Internet, with its networks and crowdfunding.
Two decades ago, 10-minute television programmes aired heart-rending stories of people living hand-to-mouth existences in deprived rural areas. At the end of the programme viewers were given information on where they could make a donation.
These days the effort has moved onto social networking websites. Typically, a Facebook user will post a dramatic story of a poor compatriot in desperate trouble. It goes viral, and people rush to help by donating money. The drama ends happily and a measure of peace is restored.
Thai society thrives on this recurrent theme of kindness and generosity, in a story of the stronger extending a helping hand to the weaker.
The latest episode of this national drama features farmers suffering due to the plummeting price of rice. News recently emerged that rice growers now earn just Bt5 for every kilo of their grain – less than the price of a packet of instant noodles (Bt6).
The story went viral and people rushed forward with offers to help farmers.
Private-sector and civil-society groups are helping them sell their crop directly, without having to give a cut of the earnings to middlemen. Meanwhile the government, despite denouncing its predecessor for pouring away billions on a rice-price pledging scheme, has introduced a subsidy programme of its own to tackle the problem.
However, a more sustainable solution to the falling price of agricultural produce would be to reduce the number of growers and offer them alternative ways to make a living.
Unfortunately Thai ethical norms simply not feasible. Agriculture remains a central pillar of the nation’s self-image, and it is taboo to suggest that farmers be plucked from peaceful paddies and sent to work in factories to become cogs in the capitalist machine.
There is thus no option but to keep supporting rice growers on an intermittent basis. Occasional subsidies not only help to put food on farmers’ tables, they also nurture and maintain the mutual caring and generosity that lies at the heart of our identity as Thais.
But the ugly truth is that Thai farmers will continue to deliver millions of tonnes to a market already oversupplied with rice. The extent to which our current generosity can compensate for the resulting low incomes is in serious doubt.
However, the government and policymakers are unlikely to adopt longer-term and sustainable solutions, because they could be perceived as persecuting one of the most vulnerable groups in Thai society.
Unfortunately that reluctance to move forward will remain for as long as we continue to confuse religious morality with genuine social justice.