Bangkok, 4 July 2013 — Commerce Minister Niwatthamrong Boonsongpaisan has disclosed that he will make use of information technology in the planned monthly rice warehouse inspection, and the government-to- government (G2G) rice auction will be conducted in the middle of this month.
Mr. Niwatthamrong, a newly appointed Deputy Prime Minister, elaborated on the IT scheme, saying the idea emerged during the meeting with the Thai Rice Mills Association. He said the system would be an online one but did not give any further details.
He also said that the G-2-G rice auction would be conducted around the middle of this month, expecting to auction off more than 500,000 tons of the pledged rice in the stockpile.
The Deputy Prime Minister also urged rice mills joining the rice pledging scheme to operate with transparency in an attempt to counter corruption in the controversial scheme.
In reply, Mr. Manat Kitjaprasert, the President of the Thai Rice Mills Association, said the association is ready and willing to cooperate with the government, encouraging the authorities to take legal action to the full extent of law against unscrupulous mill operators found guilty of corruption in the scheme.
