Some 26 million rai of paddy fields are covered by the government's free crop insurance scheme in the 2016-17 harvest season, says the chief of the Office of Insurance Commission (OIC).
The coverage is expected to widen as the scheme is still open for farmers in the South until Dec 15, said Suthipol Taweechaikarn, secretary-general of the insurance regulator.
Registration for farmers in other regions closed at the end of last month.
The government wants 30 million rai to be insured for this harvest season, starting from April.
Under the scheme, the government shoulders an insurance premium of 60 baht a rai, while the state-owned Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) pays the remaining 40 baht per rai instead of farmers. Only customers of the BAAC are entitled to the subsidy.
The crop insurance subsidy, part of the government's 45.6 billion baht in assistance measures to farmers in the 2016-17 season, is aimed at getting more farmers to pay attention to crop protection. It has proven a success as only 1.5 million rai of rice paddy was covered by crop insurance before the scheme, he said.
The crop insurance scheme not only reduces the government's burden for compensation to rice farmers but also prods farmers to manage risk themselves. However, crop insurance in Thailand is voluntary and in the early stages. Agricultural insurance coverage is limited to major crops typically affected by natural disasters, such as rice.
There are 58.7 million rai of rice fields across the country, according to the Office of Agricultural Economics' data.
Mr Suthipol, who is also vice-chairman of a working panel on crop insurance reform under the government's reform steering committee on the economy, said the insured 26 million rai covered 1.5 million farmers.
In a related development, the OIC has requested the government enact a law concerning crop insurance to create a systematic framework and establish a committee to set up a national crop insurance policy, he said.
Crop insurance offers protection from floods, drought, windstorms, frost, bushfires, pests and diseases. Farmers receive compensation of 1,111 baht per rai in case of crops damaged by natural disasters and 555 a rai in case of pests and diseases.