Subsidy deadline looms for Phuket rubber farmers

PHUKET: More than 300 Phuket rubber farmers have been approved to receive national rubber subsidy funds and officials are working to certify nearly 2,000 others who have applied for the money before a November 15 deadline.

“The government has budgeted 21 billion baht for Thai rubber farmers,” Chalee Sittabut of the Phuket Provincial Agricultural Extension Office told the Phuket Gazette

“Rubber farmers who own their land are entitled to receive 2,520 baht per rai for up to 25 rai,” he said.

By the October 15 deadline to register for the funds, 2,127 Phuket rubber farmers had submitted their documents.

“We’ve certified 102 of those already and distributed 1,877,460 baht to that group. For another 213 farmers, the money is on the way,” he said.

“Staff in district agriculture offices have to work quickly to process the remaining 1,812 applications we have on hand before October 30,” he said.

After that, subdistrict chiefs (kamnan), village headmen and local volunteers will research the claims in their areas to certify that they are genuine before the November 15 deadline, he added.

By November 30, certificates approving the farmers’ requests will be given out, and within 15 days of that, they will receive their subsidy, Mr Chalee said.

Almost half of the rubber farmers in Phuket did not apply for the subsidy, Mr Chalee noted.

“Either they don’t own the land where they’ve planted trees; they didn’t want the money; or they live somewhere else and for whatever reason didn’t apply,” he said.

— Irfarn Jamdukor