more on the research report
veteran Bangkok Post columnist and former editor Veera Prateepchaikun provides more important insights into Dr.Nipon's repost.
Dr.Nipon admits there might be collusion going on to suppress the rice price, but it was not the fundamental cause for the fall in rice price.
He also criticized the way the government sent military personnel and officials to check were houses of rice millers suspected of involvement in price collusion as unreasonable.
Panic speculation as cause of price slump
Dr.Nipon blamed panic price speculation by exporters as the actual cause of the sudden price slump in rice.
He said some exporters has clinched forward rice deals with overseas customers by setting the future price at us$548(19190baht)per tonne for the first lot of rice to be delivered in December from the November crop, while the spot price than was us$720.
Although the future price is not public knowledge, it is among exporters, who then panicked and started making forward rice deals {rice futures contracts} with their customers , driving the domestic price of rice down even further.
Mr.Nipon said price speculation among exporters and millers is a normal part of the market mechanism.
Speculation can spiral out of control thought, if there is a lack of reliable information. Dr.Nipon suggested the creation of a rice futures market and a reliable system of forecasting rice production to overcome there problems.