Indebted Thai farmers gather at central bank headquarters

Bangkok, June 9 (TNA) – Around 1,000 indebted farmers under the Farmers' Debt Network of Thailand from all regions gathered in front of the Bank of Thailand (BoT) headquarters early Monday morning, demanding the government's immediate measure to solve their debt problem. A representative of the group said the farmers will submit an open letter written on their behalf by the Network's advisor Charin Duangdara to Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, who chair's the Farmers Rehabilitation and Development Fund. The farmers letter calls on him to accelerate addressing their debt woes and investigate misconduct on the part of the fund's managing committee. They demanded removal of acting fund secretary-general Sermsak Chuencharoen, saying that his appointment on January 11 was illegal. They also called for improvement of the fund's management, saying it had failed to solve the debt problem of more than 300,000 members during the past five months. He said the Farmers' Network had complained twice, but drew no attention from the government. The network will wait for the premier's decision until Monday afternoon before taking up any other measures to press the government. It is reported the protesting farmers will join another group of farmers gathering at the Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry before moving to Government House if their demand went unheeded. (TNA)