The deputy prime minister stressed the measures were just an immediate relief. In the longer term, the agriculture ministry will need to rethink and plan the plantation areas."
Rubber farmers have been hard hit by the global price slump in line with oil. Rubber prices have plummeted to 34 baht a kg while farmers claim their cost is 60 baht.
The rubber trade law, passed by junta-appointed legislators in 2014, allows the Rubber Fund to be used in the event of "market crises". The old law required the cess duty be used exclusively to support felling and replanting rubber trees.