(Photo FB/y.shinawatra)The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) vowed Tuesday to move ahead to help farmers sell their rice at better prices, directly to consumers cutting out the middleman. Soldiers were deployed to 44 provinces to help farmers harvest rice, collect data and survey rice purchases by the 1,068 private-run rice millers in 45 provinces. They also organised so-called Pracharat (civil state) markets where 1,085 stalls provided space to sell rice to more than 20,000 consumers, she said. "Regrettably, my intention as a citizen to help farmers during this hard time was interpreted in other ways," she said. The Democrats said they had also helped cut out the middleman for rice farmers, but didn't give details.

Source: Bangkok Post November 15, 2016 22:20 UTC