Activist calls for judicial intervention to suspend auction of old rice

Solo activist Srisuwan Janya today appealed to the Central Administrative Court to suspend the Ministry of Commerce’s auction of around 15,000 tonnes of ten-year-old rice from the Yingluck Shinawatra government’s scandalous rice deposit scheme.

In his complaint, Srisuwan stated that a number of rice experts opposed the proposed sale on the grounds that rice stored for more than ten years has no nutritional value, is inedible and may be infested with insects, even though the Department of Medical Sciences had examined samples of the rice and found it to be edible.

He doubts that the rice samples tested by the department actually came from the two warehouses in Surin province where the rice from the deposit program was stored.

He pointed out that the terms of the auction, which is scheduled to take place in June, do not specify whether the rice must be exported after the auction or can be sold for consumption in Thailand.

Srisuwan said the image of Thai rice would be seriously damaged if the old rice was exported. If the rice was sold locally, local consumers could become sick.

He asked the court to issue an injunction to stay the planned auction, which would be organized by the Public Warehouse Organization under the supervision of the Ministry of Commerce.