It was simple math for former businesswoman and Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to win the July 2011 election and lead the Pheu Thai Party: Guarantee the procurement price of rice paddy for farmers at THB 15,000 (roughly $450) per ton. This was 4,000 baht above the rate set by the previous Democrat Party and almost 50 percent above the global market price. Since almost 40 percent of Thailand’s labor force is in agriculture, and the majority of those are in rice, Yingluck sailed to victory and was sworn into office on August 10, 2011.
The strategy was a simplistic but unrealistic three-step process: Buy rice from farmers at inflated prices, stockpile it to reduce global supply and drive up global prices, and resell it later at a higher price to recover the initial outlay.