BANGKOK, 25 July 2014 – Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha, Chief of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), has assigned related officials to urgently solve the fruit oversupply problem, especially in border areas.
On his weekly TV program “Returning Happiness to the People”, Gen Prayuth revealed that over the past week, representatives of the State Enterprises Worker’s Federation of Thailand, the Chinese-Thai Enterprises Association and the Federation of Thai Capital Market Organizations met with the NCPO’s head of economic division to inquire about economic guidelines of the council. All of them were reportedly satisfied after hearing the clarifications.
As one of the pressing economic issues at the moment, Gen Prayuth stressed that the overproduction of fruits, such as mangosteen and longkong, is being tackled by relevant agencies led by the National Economic and Social Development Board. Alternative markets have already been prepared to accommodate the excess produces. In the meantime, authorities have been tasked to strictly monitor and regulate the transport of fruits in and out of the country along the borders.
As for the issue surrounding the price of sugarcane, Gen Prayuth stated that the price has been set at 900 baht per ton for now. Measures for pushing the value up further are also being drafted, including the development of sugarcane genes, improvement of soil and substitution of chemical fertilizers with organic ones.
