The cabinet has backed plans to use natural rubber to build sports stadium floors as part of its efforts to bump up local rubber prices.
Government spokesman Yongyuth Mayalarp said the cabinet yesterday approved the proposal, after the Tourism and Sports Ministry found it was likely to stack up.
The government is keen to find new ways to boost demand for local rubber supplies, in the hope of reducing the market glut and increasing prices.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha earlier asked the ministry to conduct a feasibility study on processing rubber to produce sports stadium floors and tracks.
Mr Yongyuth said the ministry study found floors and tracks made with natural rubber could pass the required standards set by the International Association of Athletics Federations.
Mr Yongyuth said such stadium floors and tracks are usually produced with polyurethane mixed with natural rubber. Both floors and tracks normally have two layers of material.
The lower, 10-mm thick layer could be fully replaced with natural rubber while the upper layer at 3mm of thickness could be made with a mix of natural rubber and synthetic rubber at a ratio of 60:40, said Mr Yongyuth.
The production cost of the floors and tracks could be cut from 2,500 baht/sq m to 800 baht/sq m if natural rubber is the construction material, he said.
The total cost for a standard sports stadium of 6,500 sq m in size could be reduced by over 5 million baht, he added.
The cabinet's decision comes as rubber farmers are threatening to protest over falling rubber prices and the government's failure to solve their problems.
Sukhon Sawatdeepirom, the leader of a rubber planters' network in Krabi province, said rubber prices have risen slightly to over 50 baht/kg, but growers are still in hardship.
The long-term fall in rubber prices has forced many planters to sell their fields, vehicles and other assets to pay off debts, Mr Sukhon said.
Farmers had demanded a price increase to 80 baht/kg but the government had ignored their call, he said.
As a result, farmers in several southern provinces are considering new actions to attract the government's attention, including staging rallies.
Farmer leaders will meet on Saturday, possibly in Surat Thani, to discuss plans to force the government's hand.
Pirach Joeichum, the president of a rubber farmers' network in Phatthalung, said the government has not dealt with the problem efficiently.
Rubber latex is sold at 43 baht/kg while rubber sheets are sold for no more than 57 baht/kg.
"If the government is not able to tackle the falls in fresh rubber latex and raw rubber sheet prices by the end of this month, rubber farmers from the South will be forced to travel to Bangkok to meet the prime minister," he said.
Gen Prayut, meanwhile, said yesterday the government's measures to solve rubber price and rice price problems are working to some degree.
The rubber sheet price had increased to 56-57 baht/kg from less than 50 baht/kg while the rice price has reached 12,900 baht/tonne.
"I would like to see the rubber price rise to 62 baht/kg as soon as possible. However, we are still encountering problems which we are hurrying to solve. They are standing in the way of us making progress," he said.