Dairy farmers threaten Mittraphap Road blockade over Bt600m debt

Dairy farmers and cooperatives are stepping up pressure on the government to urgently resolve more than 600 million baht in unpaid raw milk bills, with plans to block Mittraphap Road outside the Dairy Farming Promotion Organisation of Thailand (DPO) on April 21 in a protest demanding justice and fair treatment.

Teerachai Kiangkraivekin, chairman of the Thai-Denmark Milk Association, told Thansettakij that the DPO’s overdue payments for raw milk had caused widespread damage, affecting more than 26 dairy cooperatives nationwide and leaving them without sufficient liquidity to pay their farmer members.

The situation has forced many cooperatives to borrow from external funding sources to keep payments flowing to members, saddling them with rising interest costs. At the same time, the cost of dairy farming, including animal feed and energy, remains high, worsening the debt burden already facing farmers.

“Today, the DPO itself faces limitations in allocating school milk quotas. But when there is excess raw milk from cooperatives or private producers, it has to step in and buy it as a short-term fix. Once it buys the milk but has no money to pay for it, the problem spirals further,” he explained.

Teerachai added that some farmers had already begun selling their milk to investor groups moving in to buy up supply because they could no longer bear the financial strain.

As a result, he said the group had resolved to block Mittraphap Road on April 21, the first meeting day after the long holiday, stressing that if there was still no clear answer, the protest would be escalated further.

Previously, the DPO had sought a 600 million baht loan from the Farmers’ Aid Fund to settle the overdue raw milk payments. Although the fund had already approved the request, it still required Cabinet approval before the money could be released.

However, that process was interrupted by the dissolution of the House of Representatives, which halted the approval procedure. Although a new government is now in office, no concrete assistance has yet materialised.

The Thai-Denmark Milk Association is therefore calling on the prime minister and the agriculture and cooperatives minister to urgently approve the loan from the Farmers’ Aid Fund so that the outstanding raw milk debt can be repaid without further delay.

“If this continues to be delayed, it could threaten the survival of the entire dairy farming system, not just in certain areas, but escalate into a national crisis,” Teerachai warned.