As the political divide worsens in Thailand, a similar split is also now apparent among farmer groups and is influencing how rice farmers are trying to get their unpaid money under the government's controversial rice-pledging programme.
A strawman is hung as a symbolic of farmers's suicide as they do not get money from grain pledged with the government. (Photo by Pattarapong Chatpattarasill)
There are currently three farmer groups calling for the government to pay 130 billion baht owed to them under the scheme.
They are the Thai Farmers Association, led by Wichian Puanglamjiak; the Thai Rice Farmers Association, led by Prasit Boonchuey; and the network of farmers from the western and lower northern provinces, led by Rawee Rungruang.
Mr Prasit, who leads rice farmers from 19 provinces, has apparently joined forces with Mr Rawee’s group to protest in front of the Commerce Ministry against the government over the delayed payments for their pledged rice.
The combined group even broke through the line of defences at the Defence Ministry’s office of the permanent secretary yesterday to meet caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who was believed to be working there.
According to the group, the government has owed them rice-pledging money since October.
Meanwhile, Mr Wichian’s group, which comprises farmers from 40 provinces, seems to have taken a different approach.
The group is determined to protect the rice-pledging scheme, which they say is the government's best project and must continue even though the Yingluck government is only a caretaker one.
Mr Wichian stressed the government is on the right track with the rice-pledging scheme, despite the payment delays.
The key issue is that most farmers have been incited by political groups to clash with the government, he said.
Meanwhile, Mr Rawee conceded the various farmer groups lack unity in their fight for delayed payments.
Farmers must harmonise their movement as there are attempts to weaken the movement and reduce its credibility, he said.
"We must go beyond personal interest and will not make any moves that appear to be only a political tool for politicians," Mr Rawee said.
Mr Rawee said some people in the movement had tried to take donated money for their own purposes.
"This issue has made us carry out our movement separately,” said Mr Rawee.
"We are now moving ahead with our specific mission and we are ready to go home when the money is paid."
Kittisak Ratanawaraha, a Phichit farmer and ally of Mr Rawee, said the gathering of the western and northern farmers formed naturally because of stress from payment delays and they want the government to pay them as quickly as possible.
He insisted his group will not be a political tool for anyone, unlike the red-shirt farmers, who ignore the grievances of other farmers, many of whom have committed suicide, while cheering on the rice-pledging scheme.
"The scheme has collapsed, and no government will dare promote the programme in the election," said Mr Kittisak. "The scheme will not be able to emerge again."
Mr Prasit said his group will press ahead to force the government to pay back all of the 130 billion baht in long-overdue debts under the scheme to farmers, not only the 5 billion baht from the Government Savings Bank loan.
The group remains concerned about the payment procedure and when all farmers will be able to repay their debts, he said.
Regarding the conflict with other farmer groups, Mr Prasit said he had been accused by some farmer leaders of using money donated by people through the People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) anti-government protest group, for his own purposes. "That is not true," he insisted.
"I have never received donated money and I was never on the Silom stage of the PDRC as claimed," he said.
The charge comes from a widely shared Facebook page alleging he received 500,000 baht of donated money from the PDRC’s Silom rally site after he spoke on the stage attacking the rice-pledging scheme.
Mr Prasit accepted that he once gave a speech on the PDRC’s Pathumwan stage but he insisted that he never received any donated money.
"Only some PDRC members offered to donate 50,000 baht each to the relatives of the farmers who recently committed suicide [due to debt woes] but I have not received any contact from them so far," he said.