A POPULAR influencer hurriedly added fertiliser to her live sale of durian at 100 baht a fruit as supported by Commerce Minister Supajee Suthumpun after farmers heavily criticised her for distorting market mechanism, Naewna newspaper and MNG Online said.
The online sale by the influencer who goes by the name “Pimrypie”, due to start at 7 p.m. this evening, was blasted by durian farmers who said the set price is “crushing their livelihood” and opens way for middlemen to take advantage of them. This led to a heated debate on social media about pricing mechanism.
To head off further criticism Pimrypie announced this on her personal Facebook page, “Tonight, it’s not just durian, but also fertiliser for sale!”
This triggered a quick online backlash with some netizens pointing out that the special fertiliser promotion is only to put an end to the durian drama and demonstrate her support for farmers.
Amid the commotion another influencer and writer Mr. Praiwan Wannabut offered this suggestion, “If Pimrypie truly wants to help alleviate the burden of living cost and assist farmers struggling with ‘expensive fertiliser, cheap durian’ situation, she should try live-streaming sale of fertiliser at 100 baht per bag as a tangible way to reduce production costs for orchard owners.”
It remains to be seen at what price Pimrypie live-steams sale of fertiliser and whether this will send shockwaves through the agriculture sector as did the 100-baht a durian price and whether it genuinely assists orchard owners or just turns out to be a marketing tactic.
Earlier Mr. Kornnit Nonchui, a spokesperson for the Commerce Ministry, said live sale of durian by Pimrypie is part of a policy to help farmers by expanding sale channels of Thai fruits so that they could directly reach consumers.
The aim is to increase market opportunities for farmers, quickly deliver quality durian to consumers, and help clear the current durian harvest. The live sale starting this evening aims at selling 1 million durians priced at 100 baht per fruit.
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Top and Front Page – Commerce Minister Supajee Suthumpun, left, and Pimrypie, right. Photo – MNG Online
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