PWO sets just one date for the submitting of bidding documents and choosing winners; interested parties have from May 31 to June 7 to inspect the rice

The government’s Public Warehouse Organisation (PWO) has set June 17 as the date for auctioning the 15,000 tonnes of jasmine rice stored under a government rice-pledging scheme some 10 years ago.

The PWO will provide details of the terms of reference to interested parties on Wednesday, acting PWO director Krishnaraksa Jaidee said on Tuesday.

He said bidders will be allowed to inspect the rice from May 31 to June 7 at either of the two warehouses and submit bidders’ qualifications on June 10. The list of qualified bidders will be released on June 13.

From 9am to noon on June 17, PWO will start selling bidding documents at the Department of International Trade Promotion head office in Nonthaburi province.

The bid envelopes will then be opened on the same day from 1pm, after which the winner(s) will be announced, Krishnaraksa said, adding that winning bidders will have 15 days to sign a contract with the PWO to complete the purchase.

The rice is being stored in two warehouses in Surin. There are 11,656 tonnes in 112,711 bags in the Kittichai 2 warehouse and 3,356 tonnes in 32,879 bags in the Poonphol 4 warehouse.

The 10-year-old rice became a hot subject of public discussion after the government announced its intention to sell it off earlier this month.

The rice-pledging scheme, implemented under Yingluck Shinawatra’s government between 2012 and 2013, was found to have been fraught with fraud and corruption. This was also used as one of the reasons for her ouster in a 2014 military coup.

Experts have warned that the rice may not be suitable for human consumption, especially since it has been exposed to pesticide sprays for a decade, though government officials have been trying to prove otherwise by consuming it in public.

It has been rumoured that the rice may be sold to buyers in Africa or served to personnel in military camps.

Published Date: May 28, 2024