BANGKOK, 27 May 2014 – The Director for the Bank of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) of Chiang Mai expects that every farmer in the province will have received all their payments from the rice program by June 15th.
Farmers have been calling into the provincial BAAC office, bringing with them their receipts to obtain payment under the long delayed rice-pledging scheme. Most of them have expressed great relief, as they have been waiting for more than six months to get the money.
BAAC Director Sakchai Kamruangrit of Chiang Mai Province said that the bank had received an allocation of 299 million baht, which has been successfully disbursed to the farmers. Another remaining 499 million baht is expected to be received by the first week of June.
Meanwhile, Major General Sarayut Rangsri of the 33rd Military Circle said that the payment process must be transparent and reach the hands of every farmer enrolled in the rice pledging scheme.
