BANGKOK: A Thai state-backed farm bank will issue a 20 billion baht ($606 million) bond next week in another attempt to raise funds for the government's rice-buying scheme, which has run out of money because of a failure to find buyers for the grain.
The generous intervention scheme helped Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra win power in a 2011 election but hundreds of farmers, some unpaid since October, have joined demonstrations which began in November. More are considering joining protests next week aimed at ousting her.
"The 20 billion baht is not enough to pay the thousands of farmers who are still waiting for their money and they are getting angry and thinking about protesting," said Prasit Boonchoey, head of the Thai Farmers Association. He told Reuters he attended anti-government rallies in November.
The bond issue could face a tough reception next week given the political uncertainty, with protesters planning to shut down Bangkok to sabotage the upcoming election.
Millions of farmers in the northeast remain loyal to Yingluck and her brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, who brought in cheap healthcare and other measures to help them when he was in power until 2006, but farmers elsewhere may not be so solid.
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