Organic farming better than spraying subsidies
Re: “Cabinet told to fix worsening plight of poor”, The Nation, yesterday.
Democrat Party deputy leader Ongart Klampaiboon said: “I hope the new cabinet will work hard to solve the people’s problems. Ministers should not work for their own interests or try to extend the term of the junta-backed government to keep it in power.”
If the comments above were made by a “Red” politician, they might not be published or at least there would be a reply included which might even threaten to delay the election.
But, having a Dem politician speak, especially a senior one, is okay.
I cannot figure out if the military is going to try to co-opt the Dems into supporting them post-election, and/or if the Dems would be foolish enough to do so. Or perhaps this is just a case of old habits die hard...
Samui Bodoh
I’m sure everyone cares, as they drive home in their new Mercedes-Benz.
stanleycoin
Sounds to me like it’s time for the Cabinet to rent a jet and fly to Hawaii and think this dilemma through.
If you really want to help the poor, be sure not to partake in corruption, and earnestly crackdown on it. Corruption is stealing from the poor.
rkidlad
Controlling farm product prices is wrong and won’t work. Tell farmers to use less pesticides, as we read many products are contaminated with them. That would cut cost and save the health of people.
Try changing farmers by re-educating them for other jobs. Give only the poorest farmers some money; don’t influence the prices, as that helps rich farmers too and creates opportunity for corruption. Like we saw with Yingluck.
As for people getting poorer, I am on my annual holiday in Ko Lipe, where I have never seen more Thai tourists than now. So some people are certainly doing better than before.
Robblok
I believe there is a push for organic farming. Currently the spraying of crops is to control the weed/bug content, yet no spray lowers revenue more than the actual cost of spray. The difficulty for the small farmer is of course getting certification for his/her organic product. The farmer may well be surrounded by others who spray their crop and thus his/her crops pick up the drift and the crop is ineligible. My understanding is the current price for organic rice is higher for the producer but means less product per rai.
473geo
Getting certified as a grower of organic produce involves a long process. Several individuals are required to agree that “you are organic”. Without that agreement you cannot sell your produce. I looked into it a couple of years ago. Let us just say, the “administrative overheads” of obtaining and retaining that certification are rather high.
JAG
ThaiVisa
