Bangkok (VNA) – The Thai Cabinet has approved an extension of Government support measures for the rice industry, citing continued volatility in the global market.
Government spokesman Siripong Angkasakulkiat said after a Cabinet meeting on January 6 that the Ministry of Commerce had proposed three measures for consideration. The first was the extension of the interest compensation scheme for rice traders storing paddy from the 2023–24 production year.
Originally due to end on October 31, 2025, the programme will now run until April 30, 2026. It aims to help traders maintain liquidity when purchasing rice from farmers, with the Government compensating interest costs of 3–4% per year on bank loans used to buy and stockpile rice during peak supply periods.
The Cabinet also approved a proposal to reduce the loan limit per tonne for white paddy rice, Pathum Thani paddy and glutinous paddy under the paddy sales-delay credit scheme for the 2025–26 production year. Following a reassessment of rice prices based on 90% of the average market price as of November 4, 2025, the total loan budget will fall from 36.23 billion THB (1.16 billion USD) to 35.01 billion THB, while the one-off support budget will be reduced from 9.16 billion THB to 9.01 billion THB. The Council of State confirmed that these measures do not create binding obligations for the next government.
Another initiative seeks to promote high-quality rice cultivation among 200 farmer groups, using a one-off budget of 120 million THB from the Farmers’ Assistance Fund, with possible additional central funding. This programme was also cleared to proceed.
However, a separate paddy absorption scheme for the 2025–26 season, targeting 3 million tonnes and requiring 1.68 billion THB from central and contingency funds, was deemed to create obligations for the next administration and therefore could not go ahead, Siripong added./.
