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ม็อบชาวนา with Editor's Comments - Google เอกสาร
ม็อบชาวนา with Editor's Comments - Google เอกสาร
In the past few weeks, the hashtag # อบชาวนา has been a hot topic on social media sites as
internet users shared hashtag has been used by a lot of social media users to spread the news
of farmers’ protest. Hundreds of farmers have come came to camp and protest in front of the
Ministry of Finance before moving to outside the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives.
They want the government to listen to their problems and worries, but their wishes have still
not been fulfilled, so they have to continue staying under the harsh sun, out in the rain, and in
the city they are not familiar with. and endure the sun and rain.
Sanook ลง น ด ย บ องเกษตรกร ยอม ง านเ อเ นทางเ ามาในเ องหลวง วย
ความห งเ ยงจะทวง ญญา ภาค ฐเคยใ ไ บพวกเขาเ อหลาย อน
Sanook went on site to talk discuss with the farmers, who left their homes and traveled to
Bangkok in hopes of calling for the government to make good on its their promise/adhere to
its promise made several years ago.
ญหา “ห ” งแ ไ หาย
The “Debt” Problem Which Hasn’t Been Ssolved. /The Unsolved Debt Problem
“It’s hard. Farming is very challenging because we don’t have the luxury of a certain water
supply. During the dry years, we struggle to break even, let alone make a profit. Our debt has
been increasing. This year, fortunately, we gained some profits because the price of sugarcane
was good,. It it takes three to four years to get a good price. So, Wwe have some money left
this year, but not in recent years/the past few years. It’s not enough to live on. We have to
borrow it from the bank. Now, we rarely have enough money for food. How are we supposed
to pay off our debt?” said farmer Hong from Chai Nat.
“I’ve been have been paying off my debt, but it all goes towards the interest, not the
principal. I can’t afford to pay off all my debt because I can’t make any profit from farming.
and Mmy income is unstable. My mom has/I’ve been in debt since 1995. She has/I’ve been
paying off her/my debt, but it also goes towards the interest. For me, my principal is 700,000
baht, but the interest soars up to is over two million baht. The overall debt is about three
million baht. I can’t just afford to pay off all my debt. I’m exhausted,” farmer Nee said with
sadness in her voice.
“Growing 1,600 square metres one rai of rice a paddy field costs 7,000 baht, but rice can be
sold for only five baht per kilogram. The price of one packet of instant noodles is already six
baht while the price of rice is only five baht. We can’t stand it/We can’t go on like this..
That’s why a lot of farmers owe money to BAAC. We have long been in debt. Even though
we have been paying off a lot of debt, it goes towards the interest, not the principal,/We have
long been in debt and been paying it off so much but still it all goes towards the interest, not
to the principle in the slightest,” a farmer Pikul from Chiang Mai added.
Farmer Sajja from Roi Et who was leaning his back in a tent in front of the Ministry of
Agriculture and Cooperatives also said that farmers were having debt problems because they
had been losing profits from crops /their profit from crops had been diminishing while their
expenses had been increasing. They also got lowballed by middlemen.
“Selling trash makes more money than selling rice. The price of rice is so low that selling
trash makes even more money. We’ve have long been exploited by middlemen and
capitalists who. They offer very low prices. We can sell rice for only 5 baht per kilogram, and
we can't even negotiate. We are at a disadvantage. We can set our own price of cows and
buffaloes/cattles at 50,000 baht each, but we can’t do the samethis with rice. Even though we
are the growers, they are the ones who set prices./They are the ones who set the price, even
though we are the ones who grow the rice. And this is what is puttings us in misery.”
ชาวนามา ไม?
The Office of Farmers’ Reconstruction and Development Fund (FRDF) was founded
according to the FRDF Act of 1999, with the aim of encouraging the government to solvinge
the problem of farmers’ debt and improvingimprove the quality of life lives of farmers.
However, after 23 years, the promise of FRDF to carry out the debt relief has not yet been
fulfilled. For this reason, on behalf of The Farmer Debt Network of Thailand (FDNT),
farmers all over the country/in every corner of the country came to Bangkok to ask the
government when will they work on this matter./whether it’s time to approve their request./ to
press for the government to make progress on this matter.
“The fund was founded in 1999, and we had fought together to acquire the act. We have
found a way/solution. Anyone who is a farmer and in debt can register and inform the
government agency that they are in debt and ask them how they can help us. But no action
has been taken so far. So, here we are, voicing our demandsconcerns. How many years have
we been fighting? Over a decade/More than ten years. Then, when willare we beable to clear
of the debtspay off all our debt?” farmer Pikul said.
อเ ยก องของก ม คนท. งคง กห กอ บ เวณห ากระทรวงเกษตรฯ และ กงานให
ขององ การสหประชาชา (UN) ง อไป
Below are the demands/claims of the FDNT group who are, still camping and protesting in
front of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives and United Nations Headquarters.
1. Debt of farmers who are the members of FRDF must be reduced to no more than 25
percent or entirely removed. Iin case of death, disability, decrepitude, senility, illness,
orand disease, the debt must be reduced to no more than 25 percent, according to the
FRDF Act established to help its members.
However, FRDF cannot reduce start reducing farmers’ debt without the Cabinet’s approval. if
the Cabinet does not approve. This is due to the fact that because the creditors are the four
government’s financial institutions: Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives
(BAAC), Government Savings Bank (GSB), Government Housing Bank (GH Bank), and
Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank of Thailand (SME Bank). The/These banks
cannot make a decision on their own. Therefore, what the farmers want is for the Cabinet to
approve/ that the Cabinet approves their requests/claims so that their misery/suffering can be
eased.
“The dead are just gone, but the living have to inherit debt from them/ and the living are left
with their debt to repay . So, we want the government to help us. My principal is 700,000
baht, but my interest is over two million baht. We hope they cut off the interest and reduce
just half of the principal, 50%, so that we can move on with our lives, or else we can do
nothing at all,” said farmer Nee.
“I want hope the Prime Minister to will help us because I’ve seen him helping so many poor
people. We even have state welfare cards. I don’t think he would be so callous as/seeing as
we’re are in trouble. Deep down, I believe he won’t let us downwe won’t be let down. The
Prime Minister will help us for sure,” farmer Hong said.
ญญา ไ เคยเ นจ ง
After they had been fighting for so long, the progress of debt relief for farmers was
first/initially made in 2019. However, it is already 2022, and there has been no further
progress. The appeal has still not been put forward to the Cabinet for consideration as the
government promised. This leads farmers to be at the risk of a writ of seizure and sale, land
seizures, and job losses. The fact that there is no further progress breaks their hearts.brings
pain to farmers.
“The government promised to help us, and we believed them. Since then, we haven’t heard
anything, so we have to come here to call for the government to make good on their
promise,” farmer Insorn from Chiang Mai stated.
“Every time they made a promisepromised to do what they said, we ended our protest and
went back home. left and went back home. They lied totricked us. So this time, we have to
stay longer. We have to be patient,” farmer Pikul added.
A farmer from Chai Nat also told us he half-heartedly believed the farmers would succeed
this time/he took the fact that the farmers would succeed this time with a grain of salt. This
was because representatives of from the government/government officials had told them
many times that they would definitely get what they wanted., Bbut when they went back
home, the government did notn’t keep their promises.
“เราเ บปวดมาก ฐบาลเขา หลอก ค พรรค จะเ าไปแ ญหา เ นปากเ นเ ยงแทน อ
แ อง เขา ดอ นแหละ แ เราไ เ อแ ว กการเ อง อพวกเ าเ กะ อนมาก” อ จ
จาก าว
“we’re very hurt.It really hurts our feelings. The government lied/kept lying to us. They said
that this party would solve the problems, that party would be a voice for us. They keep saying
that, but we don’t believe them anymore. These politicians are tricky and cunning very foxy,”
farmer Sujja said.
แ บาก องทน
Even Though It Is Tough, They Need to Stand It, No Matter How Tough It Is.
Definitely/Obviously, leaving home to camp and protest in the big city is not easy and is full
of difficulties, especially for farmers, who are all elderly people. Farmers, who are mostly
elderly people, have to face many difficulties. However, everyone insists on waiting until
everything is/gets clear and their problems finally get solved.
“Our liveslife here areis tough, but we have to stand it because not only us farmers who are
were here but also our fellow farmers back in ourat hometown are also facing the same
problems. 400 to 500 farmers are waiting for the response,” Sujja stated.
เกษตรกร กคน เรา ย วย างบอก า พวกเขา ด ง านแ ว อยากก บ าน แ วยภาระ
อง บ ดชอบไ นาของ วเอง ง ใ กคน องยอมทน แ หลายคนจะขอก บไป งห ก
าน อน แ พวกเขา น น าจะก บมา อแ นอน
All the farmers we talked to told us that they missed their homes and wanted to go back, but
because of the responsibility of their farms, they have no way but to put up with itbe patient.
Even though many of them decided to take a step back and return home, they insisted that
they certainly will come back to fight again.
“Spending our days here is difficult, but we need to come. No one hired us to do this., but
Wwe are here because we wanted to./We are here by ourselves. The day before yesterday, we
were at the Ministry of Finance. It was raining, and we got wet. The next morning, some of
us got were sick. This morning, it was so hot that more of us also got sick. Look, most of
them are elderly people and they have to feed themselves. Recently, college/university
students have brought us medicine, food, and mosquito nets. I also got one.thea net A
mosquito net can house for three to four people,” said Nee.
เ ยงตอบ บจากภาค ฐ
A Response from the Government Sector.
Even though the farmers have been camping and protesting for over a month, there is still no
progress from the government. The process of putting forward the appeal to the Cabinet for
consideration has also been put off several/many times. Upon asking Mr.Chalermchai Sriorn,
Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Sanook received the answer on the progress
thatSanook asked Mr. Chalermchai Sriorn, Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, about
the progress. He said that they were waiting for the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of
Agriculture and Cooperatives and the five banks to come to a conclusion/ to come to a
conclusion with the five banks and they are in the process of proposing the petitions to the
Ministry of Finance for consideration and sending them back to the Cabinet for another
consideration/reconsideration. In the meantime, the remedial measures are still pending for
the Cabinet’s consideration., However,but when theyit will be raised in the Cabinet meeting
is not certain.
Manunya Thaiset, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, said that there are
multiple parties involved in transfering farmers’ debt to FRDF involved many people,
including the Cooperative Promotion Department and BAAC. She would like them to
cooperate in this matter. However, according to the Cabinet meeting on February 21, 2022,
the Prime Minister is will be likely to offer debt relief to farmers who meet the five
conditions of debt management. It is expected that the Ministry of Finance will put forward
the issue to the Cabinet for consideration next week.
Even though there is still no clear response from the government, the farmers are still/keep
waiting in hopes that the government will help remove their debts, so they can continue to
make a living for themselves and their families on the lands they inherited from their
ancestors.
“The government must not forget that farmers are the ones who make the country as it is
today. If farmers stopwe stop farming/working, will people have anythingsomething to feed
on? Who will face difficulties?/Who will struggle? FarmersWe are the pillar of the country,
so don’t forget to take care of themus. The government gave others money but cannot give it
towhat about the farmers? I’m speechless,” said a farmer who just came over to tell us before
crossing the road.
Translators
Napasorn Ekwongsakul 6140097222
Nichapa Kheawsutti 6140073122
Pattada Letikul 6140152022
Kunlapat Chaiwongsuriya 6140014122
Editors
Kornkanok Thongsumrit 6140006122
Supriya Boonprasom 6140256722
Aimboon Sakdasri 6040281222