Thailand has implemented major changes to its rice trade industry, focusing on breaking monopolies and encouraging open trade. These efforts aim to provide farmers and small businesses more opportunities while creating a fairer and more competitive market.

The announcement came after a meeting led by Minister of Commerce Pichai Naripthaphan to review the 1946 Rice Trade Act. The reforms align with Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s’ goal of supporting small-scale operators and removing market barriers.

Key changes include revising rice export permits and easing stockpile rules for farmers and cooperatives. For small businesses with less than 10 million baht in registered capital, the stockpile requirement will drop from 500 metric tons to 100 tons. These updates are expected to take effect by the end of January 2025.

Export license fees will also be reduced. Farmers and cooperatives won’t’ pay fees, while small businesses will see lower costs for general and packaging-specific export licenses. A new regulation formalizing these changes is expected by March 2025, pending approval from the Cabinet and the Council of State.

Plans include eliminating stockpile requirements and fees and simplifying the registration and licensing process to just one step. This fits the Prime Minister’s’ vision of a fully open rice trade market, helping small exporters compete internationally.

These reforms were shaped through discussions with exporters, farmers, mill operators, and government officials. The talks started in December 2024 and focused on lowering costs, increasing participation, and ensuring fair growth in the rice export sector.

Meanwhile, Thailand’s Agriculture Minister has revealed a 38 billion baht ($1.1 billion) support program for rice farmers to improve yields.

Minister Narumon Pinyosinwat shared plans to propose the initiative at the cabinet meeting this Friday. The program offers rice farmers 1,000 baht ($29) per rai for up to 10 rai (1.6 hectares), assisting about 4.68 million households nationwide.

As the world’s second-biggest rice exporter, Thailand shipped 8.37 million metric tons of rice from January to October 2024. This marks a 20% growth in export value compared to last year. Officials expect annual exports to reach 9 million metric tons, valued at around $6.4 billion.