BANGKOK, Feb 27 – Farmers protesting at Thailand’s Commerce Ministry have moved their rally to the Office of the Attorney General to ask for updates on corruption case in the government’s rice pledging scheme.
More farmers have joined the protest at Commerce Ministry, and began moving to the Attorney General’s Office on Chaengwattana Road before noon in high spirits seeking updates on their 6-point petition on Feb 6 on overdue payments from the rice pledging programme and wider investigations than rice warehouses alone.
The farmers asked other agencies to show their responsibility and to offer compensation for damages done by seizing assets and properties of caretaker prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra and others concerned to pay for the rice the farmers have delivered under the pledging scheme and to assist them on legal matters.
Meanwhile, Rawee Rungruang, leader of the Thai Farmers Network, and some farmers remain at the Commerce Ministry to welcome another 800-1,000 farmers expected from the central and northern regions and to show moral support to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC).
The graft-busting agency summoned the caretaker premier, concurrently caretaker defence minister, to hear charges related to the rice corruption case.
