BANGKOK 11 March 2014 Farmers from the North and Northeast are rallying into Bangkok to prepare for their protests set for March 12. The rally aims to pressure the government into paying money owed them under the rice pledging scheme.
According to Leader of the Northern Farmers, Kittisak Ratanawaraha, he has relayed the message to the farmers of the North and Northeast to kick off their rallies into Bangkok to prepare for the protest– slated for March 12– aimed at demanding their long-overdue payments from the rice pledging scheme.
The farmers remained unpaid despite the 20 billion baht allocated from the central budget, which the government had promised to pay them with. The leader also doubted that the government would be able to pay the farmers by May 31 this year, said Kittisak.
He believed the payment process would be expedited if a new government was formed, replacing the caretaker government. He also estimated that it would take a month for the new administration to pay off the 100 billion baht it owed to all the farmers.
