GMO seeds & other things are spreading in Thailand

Industrialization is changing the dynamics of the global seeds industry…  agricultural

sector is changing hands, although slowly, from the farmers to the seed giants…

Already  second  day  I’ve watched  on local Thai  TV  some news  reports,  first by Ch.3  then  by TPBS,  when  they  give  away rice  seeds  to farmers  for FREE.

of course,  they  do not explain  to them  that these are GMO seeds,  merely mention something like “these are  new especially developed seeds  which are resistant to flood”  or drought, pests, etc.

and  of course farmers, being uneducated,  have no any clue of  what GMO  is.

they  are  desperate  to  get seeds,  because  of the  recent and still ongoing floods.

and  of course,  the “so kind”  guys   who distribute  those seeds  do not  explain  it  to them!

they only mention, like  “well,   this time we  are giving these seeds for free,  but sorry,  we hope you understand,  next years  you will have to buy  seeds because  we  can’t  give for free all the time”

THIS IS  HOW  THEY DUPE THE  POOR  UNEDUCATED PEOPLE  into  accepting  GMO  seeds.

some  guy  from  BAAC   bank  was  speaking  on TV.   BAAC is  in fact  the main  player  in this  GMO  rice affair !

aka  “Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Coopperatives“

it is  the entity which  gives  loans to farmers, sells  fertilizers  to them, etc. etc.

this is  a  State  Enterprise  directly under the Ministry  of Finance

now  it is run by pop-Korn,  former  chief  of Thai branch of JP Morgan

so. why I’m not surprised at all that  especially  during   his  term as Thai Finance Minister  this  GMO  seeds  program  is  so aggressively  being pushed  upon the farmers ?  

To provide  just  some idea  of HOW HUGE  this effort  is  by BAAC /  Finance Ministry:

In the News (Thailand): Farm-linked NPLs need urgent attention August 6th, 2010

“Non-performing loans in the agriculture sector could double to 200 billion baht with one million farmers hurt if proper debt restructuring does not take place…

Currently, 510,000 farmers with total debts of 100 billion baht need to enter the debt restructuring process sponsored by the government…

Four banks – Krung Thai Bank, the Government Savings Bank, the Government Housing Bank and the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Co-operatives – have joined the programme.

About 70% of debts to be restructured are lent by BAAC and the rest by the other three banks.“

Alright,  get the picture?      pop-Korn  is   clever !  he  made sure  that ALL  or  majority of all the  loans  normally given by  private lenders (aka  “loan sharks”)  to farmers  has been  taken over  by  government,  under blatant  conditions  of  “you better agree to that or else!”  This  was  already  briefly  covered  even  in  Thai MSM. So,  the  point is,  BAAC  is  an instrument  of  the  expansion of  Transnational Corporations,  as  certainly pop-Korn  is  a puppet  of  global gang of  Banksters.  And  all of them  together  are  slowly  but surely  implementing  step  by step  the  plan  of taking over  the  ALL  Agri sector  in Thailand!  Taking into consideration that  even now Thailand still remains  about 80%  agricultural country,  and rice  as  a main crop – thus Thailand is the world’s biggest rice exporter -   pop-Korn  &  Co.  has  figured  it out  long in advance  HOW  GIGANTIC  the “pie”  will be,  if they  manage  to  take  under firm total  control   rice  production  in Thailand! 

Only  some  well enough  educated  people in Bangkok  are  discussing  it  in Thai  Forums.

Some  share  the information  about HOW MANY  actually  different  GMO species  has been  silently and secretly introduced into Thai  market  and spread  already !  especially soy bean,  corn,  papaya, pumpkin.  list goes on….

it was  also mentioned  that  many products  are  on the sale  already  for public consuming.

Here is  just  one example of  article  on BAAC  website  about  soy bean,  which they  imported from Taiwan and grown in Thailand  already for a while,  under  the “reason”  that  local  Thai  species  have  too strong odor  during making soy milk and other products,  while those imported seeds  didn’t. (article  is in Thai language,  use Google  translation or similar one)

So,  it is  happening  globally now,  and Thailand  is of course no exception. Here  it is  well summarized, notice that it is not  some  rumors,  but a solid Market report just  1 years old:

Global Seeds Market: Focus on Genetically Modified Segment

Industrialization is changing the dynamics of the global seeds industry. The agriculture land is not going to increase over a period of time; in fact, it is decreasing owing to the growing industrialization world over. The agricultural land is increasingly being used for setting up of industries. This is putting pressure on agricultural sector as the increasing population is driving food demand.

The need of the hour is to produce more crops with the same or the diminishing land. This has in a way sacrificed the variety of crops we used to have once. Companies have introduced hybrid seeds and then introduced biotech traits into them which made them resistant to many diseases and calamities. Moreover, these corporate giants patented these seeds in their names, to make their sales grow and make them more profitable. This is gradually killing the traditional way where farmers would save the seeds for the next season. Rather now they have to buy them every time from these companies. The government is also promoting these biotech or hybrid seeds in order to make up for the increasing food demand.

So, the agricultural sector is changing hands, although slowly, from the farmers to the seed giants. Monsanto, DuPont, Syngenta are the few big players in the seed industry. Another interesting trend in the industry, however contradictory to the cause of introducing these biotech crops, is the use of crops as biofuels, sacrificing the need for food. Governments as well as companies are encouraging farmers to grow crops which can be used for biofuels.

This is  EXACTLY  what  is  happening  in Thailand  right now !  (Scroll  down to read more  plans for Thailand since at least 2004, in the “World Kitchen scenario“;  also  read there about  broader  view  on these  events,  as in terms of global geo-politics)

Here is  also  brief  mentioning  about GMO  :   Agricultural and Environmental Diagnostics: Market Research Report

9.CORPORATE ACTIVITY IN THE RECENT PAST- A PERSPECTIVE BUILDER

Thailand Supports ASEAN Effort to Standardise GMO

Related articles:

Thailand: Consumers confused in row over GMO food products

Thailand: Biotechnology for Farm Productsand Agro-Industries

Scientist supports GM crops

taking into consideration that Thailand’s crops are devastated   by floods  and  concerns  expressed  that very possibly  Thailand  may start to import rice from Vietnam,  this  article  about attitude of Vietnam towards GMO  is pretty relevant !

Comparative assessment ofresource and market access of the poorin upland zones of the Greater Mekong Region

World Agroforestry Centre and Chiang Mai University  and  was sponsored by ………

guess  whom?      “Rockefeller Foundation, through its office in Bangkok, Thailand”   ! Southeast Asia Regional Office

no wonder,  these  are  the people who shape the  lives of  millions of poor people in developing countries such  as Thailand.

Here is a glimpse,  in what  is called  “The World Kitchen scenario” for North Thailand region:

The success of commercial agri-business sees small-scale farming essentially disappear except for specialist high-value ingredients, like herbs and spices. Farmers without the capital or business skills loose out completely to larger better organized firms. Market mechanisms loom large in inputs and dealing with externalities. Water is costly and a major constraint in production until a series of innovations in farm management aided by breeding and GMO technologies sees large improvements in water efficiency and recycling. The primary livelihood option is labor on larger commercial farms. Because of competition from cheap labor from Burma, this causes some unemployment and social disturbance. The implications for the environment are complex, but many serious problems are avoided because local firms need to meet rising standards to successfully compete in international consumer markets.

Need anymore comments ?  or have  anymore doubts  of  what, how and why  is  happening  in Thailand  with all the  floods  and GMO  seeds? 

And BTW  I bet  all the  current  floods  in Thailand  are related  to  the geo-political  games  between US  and  China.  Hillary Clinton  has  introduced  in July 2009 at ASEAN  summit in Phuket the “Lower Mekong Initiative“, the  part of Obama’s  foreign policy in   SE Asian region. related  to that is “Mekong Policy Program“. Brief article  about  this policy  is here:

Return to the Mekong: Resources for a New Policy

January 25, 2010

The Lower Mekong Initiative represents a US attempt to reinvent itself in a quadrant of countries it once viewed as critical to its Cold War policy of containment.  The Mekong figured prominently in that strategy, and the United States was a strong supporter of the Mekong River Committee, a precursor of the present Mekong River Commission. A 21st century policy must take into account new power dynamics in the Asia-Pacific region; challenges the four Lower Mekong countries face in strengthening cooperation; and the increasing importance of citizen-state relations in these countries.  The Lower Mekong Initiative may open the door to a new role for the United States on mainland Southeast Asia, but it also raises a range of new policy issues that merit closer examination and discussion.

China’s Water Grab AUG 24, 2010

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/08/23/chinas_water_grab

Forget the South China Sea. If America really cares about strengthening its presence in Asia, it’ll focus on the Mekong River instead…

another, subtler regional push, one that’s flown under the radar in Washington, has an even greater capacity to upset Beijing: America’s interference in the Mekong River region. Clinton recently met with the foreign ministers of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam and pledged $187 million to support the Lower Mekong Initiative, which has the stated aim of improving education, health, infrastructure, and the environment in the region. It doesn’t have the same firepower as military training exercises — but privately, several Chinese Ministry of National Defense officials have told me that they believe this new, softer approach in the Mekong has the potential to achieve something that all the naval partnerships in the world cannot.

The 2,700-mile-long Mekong River begins on the Tibetan plateau and runs from Yunnan province in China through Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. China has built three hydroelectric dams on its stretch of the Mekong (called Lancang in China) and will complete a fourth dam in 2012. At the moment, water levels of the lower Mekong are at record lows, threatening the livelihood of an estimated 70 million people in the countries south of China, where subsistence agriculture supports a large majority of the population. These countries blame Beijing for damming up water to benefit Chinese citizens while people downstream are starving.

There is no conclusive proof that the Chinese dams and water policies are responsible for the low water levels downstream, but Beijing’s refusal to allow extensive inspection of its activities in the Lancang — as well as its disdainful attitude toward the smaller complainants — hasn’t reassured the smaller countries that they’re being treated fairly. They fear a future in which their access to water will be controlled by China’s Ministry of Water Resources…

But China’s approach in much of Asia is basically a hearts-and-minds one. It is a major distributor of cheap, no-strings-attached loans to other Asian governments, especially to those countries,  such as the Philippines and Thailand, that are occasionally drifting away from Washington’s embrace…

Washington’s willingness to get involved in the Mekong River dispute could create an almost perfect counterweight to China’s strategy among the tens of millions of people dependent on the river for sustenance… America’s ability to keep Beijing in check over the Mekong River could remind millions of ordinary Asians that U.S. primacy in the region still matters… For the tens of millions of Asians in these countries that depend on the Mekong River for their survival and livelihood, nothing matters more than a policy that addresses water rights…  lending America’s weight to local  “bread and butter” issues is a clever way for Washington to win millions of new friends in the region — and keep one very eager competitor at bay

 

Secretary Clinton’s October 29-30, 2010 Visit to Vietnam

October 29, 2010

Strengthening Engagement with the Lower Mekong Countries. On October 30, the Secretary will meet with her counterparts from Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia for the third time since July 2009 to discuss regional cooperation on capacity-building in health, environment, education, and infrastructure. At the meeting the ministers will discuss plans to explore permanent and sustainable operating structures for the Lower Mekong Initiative, an important vehicle for bolstering regional capacity to address some of the most pressing challenges confronting the region.

Former US President Bill Clinton returns to Hanoi

16 November 2010

Clinton Foundation will continue to help Vietnam in HIV/AIDS prevention, expand cooperation in coping with climate change and manage water resources, especially in the Mekong region….