Farmers Strike Over Debt at Chiang Mai Town Hall

 | Thu 7 Nov 2013 13:25 ICT

CityNews – On 4th November at 9 a.m. around 1000 people from 17 cities in Northern Thailand, all part of the Farmer’s Reconstruction and Development Fund, gathered in front of Chiang Mai Town Hall to strike. They are appealing to the government to advance the transference of their debt from the Bank of Agriculture and Agricultural Co-operatives (BAAC) to The Office of Farmer’s Reconstruction and Development Fund.

The leader of the strike, Waropat Saengchan, reported that The Office of Farmer’s Reconstruction and Development Fund was founded to help farmers with their loans from BAAC by transferring that debt to their own office. However, the farmers have not received any help from the Farmer’s Reconstruction and Development Fund, which is why they were gathering to question their rights.

The gathering stayed in place until 4 p.m. There were representatives from Chiang Mai, Lamphun, Chiang Rai and Lampang present at the demonstration. It was reported that the demonstrations would go on for three days, and that over 2,000 people were expected to strike.

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? 09.00 ?.? 4 ? 56 ? ? ? 17 ? 1,000 ? ? ? ? (?.)? ? ? ?

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? ? ?, ?, ? ? ? ? 16.00 ?. ? ? ? ? 3 ? ? 2,000 ?