Network chairman Pratob Suksanan said he would soon lead five rubber farm leaders from the South to submit their petition to the premier via Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan at the Defense Ministry in Bangkok.

The group wants the premier to use Article 44 or a Cabinet resolution to promote the use of rubber, starting with road construction, as it believes doing so would solve the problem systematically without the government having to intervene in rubber pricing directly like before.

The group has prepared a five-measure proposal, including requiring all government units to have a 5 per cent ratio of para-rubber in asphalt mixes for all road construction/repair projects, starting from the fiscal year 2018.

They also want the Highway Department and the Department of Rural Roads to work with the Rubber Authority of Thailand (RAOT) to carry out research, sponsored by RAOT funding, on how to effectively use more than 5 per cent of rubber in the asphalt mix.

Another proposal is to have the RAOT launch a public relations campaign to try and convince related state agencies in high-potential countries, such as the US, China, India, Canada, Europe, and Mexico, to use rubber in road construction.

The final proposal involves the Highway Department and the Department of Rural Roads providing sufficient tools to test the quality of rubber to be added to the asphalt mix, or the RAOT establishing centres to provide such a test service.

The group claimed that roads paved with asphalt using rubber are 200 per cent more durable than normal asphalt roads but but only cost 17 per cent more.

It said the 5 per cent rubber requirement in the mix would boost demand for para-rubber use to 100,000 tonnes per year.

Para-rubber prices are currently at about Bt42 per kilogram for latex and Bt52 per kilogram for smoked rubber sheet.