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BANGKOK: Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej on Sunday urged the
public not to hoard rice, promising for the second time in three
days there would be enough for everyone in the kingdom.
With soaring global rice prices setting off
fears of shortages and even unrest in some nations, the people of
Thailand—the world’s number one rice exporter—will not have to
go without, he said.
The rising prices have sparked panic buying, as
people stock up in hopes of beating future price hikes. Meanwhile,
exporters have accused mills and middlemen of hoarding in hopes of
more price increases in the near future.
Samak said prices would stabilize once the
current harvest reaches market and urged Thais not to overbuy.
“The production of rice is on the normal
schedule,” he said on his weekly television show.
“People are now buying more rice than they
normally would. But I am buying the normal amount, and will buy more
when it runs out.”
International demand for Thai rice has soared
after other top exporters Vietnam and India imposed limits on
exports to ensure domestic supply.
The benchmark Thai variety, Pathumthani fragrant
rice, was priced Wednesday at $930 per ton, up 52 percent from a
month earlier, according to the Thai Rice Exporters Association.
The head of the government’s rice department,
Prasert Kosalvich, told Agence France-Presse that there was no
chance of a rice shortage in Thailand, with national stocks at about
two million tons.
“We have enough in stocks for domestic
consumption,” he said.
Thailand consumes about 6.6 million tons per
year, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
The kingdom last year exported about 9.5 million
tons, and this year’s exports are expected to drop only slightly
to 9.2 million tons, according to the FAO.
But across the region, other countries are
taking steps to rein in prices while ensuring their people have
enough to eat.
Cambodia has banned rice exports in hopes of
lowering prices. Food prices in the impoverished country have jumped
40 percent over the last year.
About 300 people protested outside parliament to
demand wage increases and further government action to rein in
prices, in a country where one-third of the population lives on less
than 50 cents a day.
-- AFP
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