Rice crop failures in Indonesia, Viet-Nam, and the Philippines along with stalled exports from India have doubled rice prices throughout Asia. Thailand has profited from the increase, as China’s appetite for the dietary staple shows no sings of slow-down.
Price hikes should be good news for Thai farmers, except the upward trend has pushed rice out of the reach of many poorer Thais and in response the government has announced that 10% of this year’s harvest will be committed to the national surplus to be distributed the the needy in 5 kilogram bags.
”Rice prices have hit a 100-year high, which is good for Thai farmers,” Commerce Minister Mingkwan Sangsuwan, who is also deputy prime minister, said to the Press. ”But to protect local consumers from high prices, the ministry will allocate some of its stockpile to sell to the market at an affordable price.”
Most of my Thai friends would rather the rice be converted to lao khao or rice whiskey so they can drink away their sorrows unlike the Ayutthaya rice farmer who ended his life after pests ate most of his crop. He was found with a pistol in his hand and a bottle of water.
No lao khao.
In neighboring Cambodia the rice crisis has lead to suspension of exports as speculators gamble on the increasing demand for the food staple without any concern for those who have to live on rice. My wife’s family are already hoarding rice for the future and her father is crying the Thai blues. “Mai mee Lao khao.”
Thankfully beer prices have only gone up 10%