The sharp rise of the internati
onal rice price in the first half
of 2008 instantly af
fected the
dom
e
stic rice m
a
rket of Thailand, causing the
consum
er price to double in just six m
onths
from
Dece
mber 2007 to May 2008. Howe
ver
,
there was no hoarding reported am
ong
consum
ers and traders, much less dem
onstratio
ns or riots in cities. Although the governm
e
nt
released som
e
of its rice stock
through its own retailing routes
at a cheaper price, its basic
stance was
to leav
e th
e m
a
rket mechanism
to
work by itself
. Rathe
r
, colle
ctive
action
s
occurred in the countryside,
not in cities. W
h
en the trend
of far
m
-gate paddy price turned
downward from
the peak of 13,259 baht
per metric ton in April, 2008,
1
far
m
ers
started
to
dem
onstrate collectively their dissatisfaction wi
th the price. Even though the price was twice
that of six month earlier
, farm
ers blocked ro
ads and dem
a
nded that the governm
e
nt intervene
in the m
a
rket. The governm
e
nt guaranteed the fa
r
m
ers the price of 14,000 baht in its price-
support program
.