Thai Farmers: Thai Junta and Rescue Package

thai farmers: Key points:Global rice prices have hit a nine-year low, hurting Thai farmers The Thai junta has announced a rescue package for jasmine rice growers Former PM Yingluck Shinawatra says the plan is 'not different' to her policy Ms Yingluck was fined $1.3 billion for her failed 'rice pledging' policy Late rains meant he was only able to grow seven tonnes this season and the money won't go far for his three children. "It very low, I got nothing, I won't make any profit," he told the ABC. Across Thailand it a similar story, with global prices hitting a nine-year low. "The price of fertiliser is getting higher but price of rice keeps dropping," said Kasem Rangsikul, as he watched a harvesting machine strip his paddy, according to Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Keeping the millions of rice farmers happy is a matter of political survival as much as economics for the military junta, which ousted former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra in a coup in 2014. Related Story: Former Thailand PM fined more than $1 billion over rice scheme Related Story: Thai King dead at 88 after influential 70-year reign Related Story: Thaksin tells Thailand opposition red shirts to 'play dead' for now Map: Thailand At a dusty Thai rice mill, Yusef Ahmad shoulders drop and his face winces as he finds out his rice will fetch just 20 cents a kilogram. The main rice-growing region in the country north is also a vote bank for the Red Shirt faction, aligned with Ms Yingluck and her brother Thaksin Shinawatra. With the harvest underway, the Government has announced a rescue package, offering growers of jasmine rice a premium rate if they agree to store their crop for several months, hoping global prices bounce back. Photo: Yusef Ahmad says the $0.20 a kilogram he will get for his rice means there'll be no profit margin. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.