2016 Rice Crop

[llso]

  Got the "Phone Call" from wife's Family in Buriram asking for money. Said that the rice crop was spoiled and no one would buy it.Not to be too overly skeptical, but it seems as if they are always coming up with some sort of catastrophe that requires us to send money. Has there been some bad weather that would have caused this problem? Thanks in advance.

LL

[BillH52]

Being a farmer in any country at any given time is a total gamble, considering weather, markets, raw costs, level of government leverage (or not) along with many other considerations.  That said, to keep it short and simple, this has been a down year for Thai rice farmers; at best, some will break even; most will not cover their costs as the sell price of harvested price has tanked.  A few farmers were able to find a creative way to sell their rice outside normal markets, i.e. selling via Facebook, or on the street corner to passerbys. 

If a family farmer does not have a "nest egg" (which most don't) it is going to be very difficult to find the money to pay for planting costs for the next crop.  About all they can do at this point is either sell their rice at a loss or save it in hopes the selling price will go up.  And then, explore possible options for financing future crops.

[gotlost]

Rice is fetching about 6 to 9 baht per kilo down from a high of 18 baht per kilo 3 years back.

[smoooth2]

Got the "Phone Call" from wife's Family in Buriram asking for money. Said that the rice crop was spoiled and no one would buy it.Not to be too overly skeptical, but it seems as if they are always coming up with some sort of catastrophe that requires us to send money. Has there been some bad weather that would have caused this problem? Thanks in advance.

LL

Hi Ilso. Certainly some Provinces experienced bad flooding this season, which would've been devasting for farmers, but I'm pretty sure that doesn't apply to Buriram. Price for paddy rice is at an all time low, so there would be many farmers really feeling the pinch, money wise.

Hold your nerve with your familys' request for money. They were presumably surviving and struggling along just fine prior to you coming into the family. Just say "no ... sorry, I'm not a bank."

If that response alters the family opinion of you, then I guess you'll have learned something.

[nookiebear]

Got the "Phone Call" from wife's Family in Buriram asking for money. Said that the rice crop was spoiled and no one would buy it.Not to be too overly skeptical, but it seems as if they are always coming up with some sort of catastrophe that requires us to send money. Has there been some bad weather that would have caused this problem? Thanks in advance.

LL

LLSO,welcome to the forum,I'm glad to see you realise how you get 'taken' when you are not here.As other posters have stated Buriram has not been hit by bad weather/flooding BUT ,Yes the price of rice is very low............Don't become a 'cash cow'.

[davureborn]

Rice facility on the road to Lamplaimat had a sign offering ‎฿14.- yesterday, which has to be taken with scepticism of course. I have also seen people selling outside BigC and Thaiwatsadu, ‎฿100 / 3Kg.
Local merchants were offering ‎฿7.- /Kg a few weeks ago, few takers at that price, last year they were offering ‎฿11.-. We are storing and even buying in a little, but the signs are that an end to small time farming of rice is coming to an end. Many will be selling up by the looks of things. Many, many Rai changed hands here last year, the paddies are considerably larger in some places, levelled by laser and wells/ irrigation ponds invested in.

[llso]

Thanks for all of the excellent replies and sound advice! This is the info I needed from boots on the ground. It is hard to figure out whats going on over there when we're thousands of miles away. My wife and I have been married for 16 years this year. Her family is not as mercenary as some. She will give in and add the "extra amount" along wit their monthly allowance, although less than they asked for. We can only hope and pray that nothing really bad happens to them as we are planning a trip there in 2018. Thanks Again,

LL

[davureborn]

Rice facility on the road to Lamplaimat had a sign offering ‎฿14.- yesterday, which has to be taken with scepticism of course. I have also seen people selling outside BigC and Thaiwatsadu, ‎฿100 / 3Kg.
Local merchants were offering ‎฿7.- /Kg a few weeks ago, few takers at that price, last year they were offering ‎฿11.-. We are storing and even buying in a little, but the signs are that an end to small time farming of rice is coming to an end. Many will be selling up by the looks of things. Many, many Rai changed hands here last year, the paddies are considerably larger in some places, levelled by laser and wells/ irrigation ponds invested in.

CORRECTION! Buying in at ‎฿8.20, not ‎฿14.0 as stated above.

[blackcow]

We have only about 20 Rai of rice but the rainfall has degraded this years crop, not worth getting in the harvest crew as the neighbors are in the same boat. Back to hand cutting for the family this time around.
Good exercise for the wife but there will be far less than last year.
We do not sell the rice, only for family consumption. Nong Bun Nak area.

[blackcow]

We have only about 20 Rai of rice but the rainfall has degraded this years crop, not worth getting in the harvest crew as the neighbors are in the same boat. Back to hand cutting for the family this time around.
Good exercise for the wife but there will be far less than last year.
We do not sell the rice, only for family consumption. Nong Bun Nak area.

Sorry should have been 12 Rai

[blackcow]

We have only about 20 Rai of rice but the rainfall has degraded this years crop, not worth getting in the harvest crew as the neighbors are in the same boat. Back to hand cutting for the family this time around.
Good exercise for the wife but there will be far less than last year.
We do not sell the rice, only for family consumption. Nong Bun Nak area.

Sorry should have been 12 Rai

[halfaboy]

My friends family were lucky. They have 15 rai of land somewhat higher than surrounding fields. These fields were too wet and therefore almost all the rice is gone whereas their harvest was great. Be it that around 1 rai needs to be handcut. This is in between Nangrong and Lamplaimat.

That means that I am also 'sharing in their luck'....

[andy]

I fail to see the problem.  Having read this site for years and seen how so many super rich farang there is in Buriram; why don't they just sell one rai of land.  Apparently one rai goes for 1,5000,000 (£30,000) in some piss hole outside Buriram.  Easy, problem solved.   

[dundeemk6]

Indeed Andy

[DeputyDavid]

Same for us halfaboy. Couple of pieces hand cut. One small area of rice got too wet but it was dried and will go to mill for brown rice for me.