WHILE a shortage of coconuts has severely affected small traders nationwide the crisis is worse in the South where prices have soared to a 40-year high with the fruit now being sold at 36-40 baht each, up from 14-17 baht, and coconut milk going for 150-160 baht a kilogramme, Amarin TV said last evening (Oct. 16).
Reporters in southern Trang province said small traders face significantly higher costs with some having to travel to buy coconuts from the source but still run into production shortages, Many are considering temporarily shutting down their business because it is no longer cost-effective and they fear they will lose more money than last year.
Particularly affected by the coconut shortage are rice and curry vendors, restaurants and shops selling Thai desserts that are unable to increase their prices to keep up with the rising costs.
Entrepreneurs have called on the government to implement relief measures such as allowing the import of coconuts from abroad to alleviate the shortage. However, they do not see a sign of the situation improving anytime soon.
Mr. Somporn “Kokwang” Wiriyasaksakul, owner of Pa Sri Coconut Milk Shop, said the vendor who regularly supplies coconuts at 30 baht each cannot now get any stock to deliver. This has led to him travelling to Sichon district, Nakhon Si Thammarat province, where there is a large warehouse and the owner also supplies to Bangkok to get coconuts but this is expensive.
The warehouse owner asked him whether he could afford to pay 36 baht a coconut with this being wholesale price and sold unsorted and he had to buy a large amount even though he previously only paid 14-17 baht each, never more than 25-26 baht.
On his last trip the price went up by 1 baht to 37 baht with this not including transportation cost. He usually drives a pickup truck there to buy a big lot of 2,500 to 2,600 coconuts as he fears the price will rise further if he asks for delivery.
However the warehouse has now run out of supply as they had about 200,000 coconuts and this sold out in one week.
At the sametime he is now selling coconut milk at 90 to 100 baht a kg but if the price of coconuts rise again he too would have to hike the price of this product and if customers cannot afford it he would have to stop selling for a while.
In the past when coconuts were in short supply the government would import from other countries because it reduces local prices, he said, while urging the government to take this step again.
Over the past one to two months he suffered a loss, and while his profit dwindled by 100,000 baht last year he expects to earn even less this year as he does not see that the situation will improve anytime soon.
After news of the shortage of coconuts in Trang was published, a lot of people in other southern provinces commented and informed of similar shortages in their districts with this showing that this crisis is being felt throughout the South.
The price of coconut milk has increased by different levels, while it is being sold at 100-110 baht in Trang, in Krabi it is as high as 150-160 a kg causing great hardship for the people, especially traders who use it as the main ingredient for their products with many stalls having shut down because they cannot get coconuts to make the milk.
CAPTIONS:
Top: A bunch of coconuts hanging from a tree. Photo by Mariola Grobelska on Unsplash
Insert: Coconut milk. Photo: Sanook.com
Front Page: A farmer with some coconuts. Photo by Amarin TV
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