Gen Chatchai made the vow to rubber farmers belonging to the Rubber Farmer Network of Thailand, who came Monday to lodge a petition with him in Bangkok. They demanded a speedy investigation into the joint venture the Rubber Authority of Thailand (RAOT) has formed with five private companies. This past month, declining rubber prices prompted farmers in southern provinces to threaten to stage a mass street protest in Bangkok, scheduled to start Monday. Rubber farmers have accused the venture of failing its objective as rubber prices have plummeted. While rubber prices have been on the rise over the past two weeks, this has failed to satisfy rubber farmers, he said.

Source: Bangkok Post November 13, 2017 23:15 UTC