Rallies at Govt House
Amid several demonstrations held yesterday outside Government House, Indebted Farmers' Network members demanded that Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont sort out the "unfair establishment" of a subcommittee for the Farmers' Rehabilitation and Development Fund (FRDF).
Charin Duangdara, the network's consultant, and some 20 members submitted a letter to the PM asking him to proceed with what had been promised by Paiboon Wattanasiritham, the deputy prime minister.They said Paiboon had promised on April 27 that he would cancel the FRDF subcommittee to select qualified individuals from public and private sectors for the FRDF board committee, as the subcommittee was created unfairly and illegally. The farmers want the subcommittee revoked. Meanwhile, 60 members of the Association of Disabled Lottery Vendors of Thailand submitted a letter to Surayud, demanding the government give the vendors at least 12 per cent in commission for lottery sales and to allow vendors to buy as many tickets for sale as they wished. Some 70 members of the labour union at Almond Company (Thailand) gathered at Govern-ment House to demand the PM's help in solving a dispute after the company dismissed 250 workers on grounds that the economy had slowed down since the coup. Some 20 fishermen from Satun's Koh Li Pe also rallied in front of Government House to demand that the Land Department assist villagers who were forced off their land by influential figures. The group had previously submitted a request for help to the PM.
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