Thai Farmers Hooked on Subsidies Test Yingluck: Southeast Asia

Thailand’s decision to expand subsidies for rice and rubber farmers to quell protests is undermining efforts to control rising debt, even as governments in neighboring Malaysia and Indonesia cut back support programs.

The government will pay 21.2 billion baht ($681 million) directly to rubber farmers’ bank accounts to offset falling prices, up from 10 billion baht agreed on earlier, after violent clashes between the police and growers demanding subsidies. The administration also promised to buy rice at above-market rates for another crop year, at a cost of 270 billion baht.