Thailand's agriculture spending faces probe
The comments were made during a special House session, convened to deliberate on the second reading of the budget bill for fiscal year 2026, amounting to 3.78 trillion baht. The session, chaired by House Speaker Wan Muhamad Noor Matha, continued into its second day following review by the special budget scrutiny committee.
During the deliberation of Section 14 of the budget bill concerning the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives' 62-billion-baht expenditure, Kittiphon Panphrommas, an MP for Nakhon Pathom from the People's Party (PP), proposed a reduction in budget allocations related to training and seminars totalling 56.27 million baht.
He argued that such initiatives lacked measurable outcomes in terms of improving agricultural productivity or increasing the value of farmers' produce.
Witwisit Pansuanpluk, an MP for Lamphun, also from the PP, questioned the rationale behind allocating 41 million baht to the Marketing Organisation for Farmers (Or Tor Kor) for constructing a single central market in the northern province of Phayao. He noted that this amount accounts for nearly half of the organisation's overall marketing budget.
The project, he said, is part of a three-year financial commitment totalling 168 million baht. However, during a field visit on Sunday, it was found that the site -- allocated 32 million baht this year -- remains undeveloped and vacant.
Mr Witwisit warned that, should the project succeed, it could lead to market monopolisation, disadvantaging farmers in neighbouring provinces. Conversely, if it fails, the facility risks becoming an abandoned "ghost market".
"Why has Phayao been granted a higher investment budget than larger provinces in the North?" he asked.
"The economic data shows that the value of Phayao's agricultural exports to Laos is three times lower than that of Chiang Rai and Nan. This raises a critical question about the selection of the location -- who stands to benefit from this? Was this decision driven by economic reasoning, or was it politically motivated?" he asked.
Chetawan Thuaprakhon, a PP MP for Pathum Thani, queried the disproportionate allocation of funds for senior army officers' personal vehicle allowances compared to the budget for defence equipment intended to safeguard the Thai-Cambodian border.
"In fiscal 2026, the Royal Thai Army has allocated 240.39 million baht for lump-sum payments in lieu of official vehicles for 694 senior officers," Mr Chetawan said.
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