Thailand’s rice price scheme: A policy too far? – BBC, August 29, 2013
In the latest in our series on Thailand’s populist, big-spending programmes – known as Thaksinomics – we look at the price guarantee for the country’s rice farmers.
It was a promise made by the governing Pheua Thai party during the election campaign two years ago.
The policy involved buying the entire rice crop at a fixed price – and as a result the government has accumulated a vast stockpile of the food, which if sold at today’s prices would incur a loss.
The BBC’s South East Asia correspondent Jonathan Head reports on one of Thaksinomics’ most controversial policies.
Yesterday: BBC: Is Thailand’s car buying scheme a wise move?