Songkhla: The farmers council is calling on the government to formulate a policy to regulate foreign investors from using Thais as their nominees to dominate the agricultural sector.
Sitthiporn Jariyapong, vice chairman of the National Farmers Council, said foreign investors, mostly from China, have moved into the fresh fruit and vegetable markets without effective control.
According to Mr Sitthiporn, these investors, operating through Thai nominees, purchase large amounts of fruit and vegetables from local growers and export them. Such a business practice, if allowed to continue without a clear policy, is likely to cause problems, he said.
"There should be a policy to regulate this business practice. They buy lots of farm products using Thais as nominees. The Commerce Ministry should take the lead," he said.
Thai fruit is a big hit in China, with investors seeing great potential and looking for business opportunities through local traders so they can buy produce directly from farmers.
In the past years, road networks between Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and the southern areas of China have become more accessible, helping to boost land transport in the region.
A wide variety of fruit -- rambutan, durian, mangosteen and longgong -- from the South and East of Thailand, lychee and longan from the North, as well as bananas, mangoes, coconuts, rose apples and jackfruit from other parts of the country, are transported every day to China by land.
Mr Sitthiporn raised the issue at a hotel in Songkhla on Monday night ahead of the mobile cabinet meeting to discuss development guidelines and projects for the southern region among key government agencies.
Chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, the dinner was attended by representatives from several sectors including farm and fisheries, who were there to share their opinions and problems.
Mr Sitthiporn also urged the government to continue with its policy to promote a "Rubber City" in the southern region to shore up rubber prices, saying additional measures should be implemented to promote a wider use of rubber in the country.
He suggested the Board of Investment (BoI) should be brought in to encourage the private sector to invest in downstream rubber products to add value to rubber and increase its price.
The government announced its plan to launch a rubber city in Songkhla to boost rubber demand two years ago.
The rubber city, expected to be fully invested in by 2021, was also planned as part of the government's special economic zones.
At the same forum, Nipon Boonyamanee, mayor of Songkhla provincial administrative organisation, called on the government to improve regulations involving the spending of accumulated funds by local bodies.
He said the regulations should be amended to allow local administrative organisations to spend in order to boost the local economy in line with the government's economic plan.
According to Mr Nipon, Songkhla is facing a waste management crisis with accumulated garbage exceeding 2.4 million tonnes and is in need of facilities to properly dispose waste.
Gen Prayut instructed the authorities to study the feasibility of the suggestions made and implement them if possible.