April 28, 2008
BANGKOK - Thailand will not cut its rice exports though soaring prices continue to spark concerns of shortage, according to PM Samak Sundaravej.
Samak said in his weekly television address to the nation that there was plenty of rice in Thailand, the world's biggest exporter.
"Thailand will not announce a ban on rice exports. It would destroy our reputation," he said.
He explained that farmers were now planting five crops in two years -- up from the traditional two crops per year -- to ensure they met demand.
"When we grow rice, it is not like in the past when the production came out every three to four months," he said. "Rice production is coming everyday; we will not face a rice shortage."
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 on Wednesday at 998 dollars per tonne for export, up nearly 35 percent from a month earlier, the Thai Rice Exporters Association said in its price survey.
Domestic prices have followed a similar trend, and Samak on Sunday urged Thais not to hoard the grain, according to AFP.
"People buy a lot of rice because they are concerned. They used to buy one (bag of rice), now they buy five. They used to buy two, now they buy 10," Samak said, adding that this set a bad example to other countries.
World rice prices have soared this year, a trend blamed on higher energy and fertiliser costs, greater global demand, droughts, the loss of rice farmland to biofuel plantations, and price speculation.
Thailand, which shipped an estimated 9.5 million tonnes of rice overseas last year, has been at pains to convince the world that it has no plans to curb supplies.
Samak on Thursday promised that his country could provide them with rice if there were any shortages in Malaysia.
