Government offers transport assistance to carry huge stocks of veggies from farms to urban markets
The Department of Internal Trade is helping transport vegetables from urban farms to Bangkok markets to ensure an uninterrupted supply during the Vegetarian Festival, while people can buy veggies at reasonable prices, said Watthanasak Sua-Iam, the department’s deputy director-general.
This year’s Vegetarian Festival runs from October 16-25.
“The department has surveyed the demand for vegetables at markets in Bangkok and provided transport vehicles to bring 10 organic vegetables that have the highest demand from Ban Mai Agricultural Group in Nonthaburi province to sell at farm prices to help alleviate people’s financial burden,” he said.
“The continuous rainfall in the past week has resulted in increasing vegetable output, whereas farmers will need more transport vehicles to bring their produce to the markets. The transport that the department is providing should help lower the cost for growers and consequently lower the selling price of these vegetables,” he added.
“We estimate that until the festival ends next week, there should be no vegetable shortage problem.
“The department has also organised the ‘Wallet Friendly Vegetarian Dish’ campaign at several partner markets to sell affordable vegetarian dishes at Bt20-25 to help low-income earners who wished to participate in the festival, while normal dishes would be priced at Bt30-35 at these markets,” added Watthanasak.