BANGKOK, 19 September 2013 The Marketing Organization for Farmers (MOF) will launch an inspection of all the 400 rice warehouses nationwide, following the case of rotten and burnt rice found in Phitsanulok Province.
The inspection is expected to commence tomorrow, covering all of the 400 rice silos in 30 provinces. The MOF indicated that warehouses that do not possess proper conditions for storing rice will be removed from the Government’s rice mortgage scheme.
The probe is expected to be finished within 2 weeks.
Regarding the rotten and burnt pledged rice of Kasetpaisan Thanyakij Company in Phitsanulok, the MOF Director, Mr. Thanetpol Thanaboonyawat, reaffirmed that the incident was not a cover up. Earlier, officials show concerns that the burnt rice was the lower quality rice that did not qualify for the mortgage scheme and the incident might have been used to mask the practice.
The MOF Director revealed that a preliminary investigation revealed that methyl bromide used in rice smoking might be the culprit behind the supposed spontaneous combustion. The final cause of the fire will soon be finalized.
The rice company has, however, promised to compensate for the estimated damage of 10 million baht.
