Poor farmers and unskilled labourers would feel a negative impact and no benefits from the 2015 launch of the Asean Economic Community (AEC).
Thailand was set to open its borders to almost all farming products from Asean members, meaning its major products such as rice would no longer be competitive.
Thailand’s standing as a regional powerhouse in rice production was misunderstood.
Thai farmers would get hurt in the long run as their production costs were increasing while yield was reducing.
Thailand has the region’s highest production cost but near lowest productivity.