By Thai Newsroom Reporters
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER-cum-Commerce Minister Phumtham Wechayachai today (May 14) threatened to take legal action against any critics who may continue to take him to task over his questionable sales promotion of the 10-year-old rice in government stock.
Known as a right-hand man of de facto Pheu Thai boss-cum-convict on parole Thaksin Shinawatra, the commerce minister contended that the rice stored at private warehouses by the Public Warehouse Organisation, a state agency under care of the Ministry of Commerce, is “safely edible” though the decade-long stored rice may not be so fragrant as newly-harvested rice and cautioned all detractors to stop their criticism which, he said, might probably “devalue” the worldwide reputation of the Thai rice otherwise, he said, the relevant authorities will definitely take legal action against them.
The Pheu Thai-attached deputy prime minister-cum-commerce minister who had demonstratively eaten the 10-year-old rice during his recent visit to a rice warehouse in Surin said the 10-year-old, “safely edible” rice could probably be sold for 18-20 baht a kilo.
Phumtham said rice traders and exporters would most certainly not attend biddings for the PWO’s decade-long rice if taken for granted that it was otherwise rotten and inedible and contended that aluminium phosphide used in the storing of the rice was not hazardous to humans as earlier alleged.
He said he will ask Public Health Minister Somsak Thepsuthin to have the relevant authorities inspect and certify quality of the 10-year-old rice at PWO-stored warehouses in the provinces shortly.
The Pheu Thai wheeler-dealer/Thaksin’s right-hand man has been earlier alleged of trying to justify a corruption-riddled rice subsidy programme run by a previous Pheu Thai government under deposed prime minister/Thaksin’s sister Yingluck Shinawatra over the last decade to the extent that the populist campaign for farmers had by no means incurred wrongdoing at policy level though it could probably have been mismanaged by those at working level such as some errant government officials and rogue rice traders.
The de facto Pheu Thai boss had earlier said Yingluck would likely return home from self-exile abroad as soon as later this year or early next so she could literally mingle with people during the next Songkran festival in their home province of Chiang Mai.
In 2017, Yingluck fled the country prior to a court verdict which ruled her guilty of duty-negligence and sentenced her to five years in prison pertaining to the 500 billion baht rice subsidy fiasco.
CAPTION:
Deputy Prime Minister-cum-Commerce Minister Phumtham Wechayachai showing 10-year-old rice, above, and eating some of it, Front Page. Above photo: Thai Rath, Front Page photo: Sanook.com
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