The Thai government said that it can’t afford to give subsidies to rubber planters and has asked for their understanding.
Rubber planters wanted subsidies for rubber sheets at 60 baht per kilogram.
Previous governments gave subsidies to farmers to help shore up the prices of their crops. But government spokesman Maj-Gen Sansern Kaewkamnerd said that subsidies distorted market mechanism and caused damages in the long run.
He said that the government can’t subsidize all crops because it is a financial burden for the government. However, the spokesman said that the government is not abandoning rubber planters, just using other measures to help with the declining rubber prices.
The government prefers more sustainable methods such as increasing rubber consumption, supporting value-added rubber products, rubber plantation zoning and encouraging planters to shift to other crops.