Anyone wanting to attend the verdict reading – including the defendants, their lawyers, members of the prosecution and media professionals – will be asked to leave their mobile phones and other communication devices with friends or colleagues outside of the courtroom.

If people choose to keep phones on their persons, they will be required to switch off their devices and put them in envelopes provided by court officials. They will not be allowed to use the devices while inside the courtroom.

The PM emphasised the greeting by making a love heart sign with his hands.

It is the second day of the Cabinet meeting, with a water management mega project for the Northeast to be tabled for Cabinet’s consideration. Also expected to be tabled is the mega high-speed rail project involving Thailand and China.

Before commencing the meeting, Prayut strolled through Suranaree Technology University exhibitions and premium OTOP products of the region.

Thawip said security on Friday will be the same as during the trial.

Speaking at Tuesday’s mobile Cabinet meeting in Nakhon Ratchasima province, he said security personnel will assess the situation.

He said he is confident the number of personnel earmarked for the verdict will be enough.

There have been reports that the authorities moved to block Yingluck’s upcountry supporters from attending the verdict, including making activists sign a contract promising not to cause a disturbance on the day.

Thawip said the authorities had acted to create a mutual understanding.

Farmers in the central region tell The Nation’s Pratch Rujivanarom that the policy was actually helpful during a time of low rice prices.

Farmers say the rice-pledging scheme under Yingluck Shinawara’s administration was beneficial to them, and have urged the current government to help raise the price of rice. They say rice is very cheap now, and they can’t make enough profit from farming.

Amphai, a 54-year-old rice farmer in Nonthaburi’s Sai Noi district, said that during the time of the Yingluck government she could earn a lot of money from selling rice. At that time, due to the pledging scheme, the price was as high as Bt15,000 per tonne and she could expand her field up to 150 rai (24 hectares).

“It was a good time back then,” Amphai said. “The farmers could earn a substantial profit from rice and had a good standard of living. It was a good policy and I am sad to see my beloved former prime minister being sued in court for her good deed to farmers.”

She said that the situation was much worse nowadays, as paddy prices had plummeted as low as Bt6,500 a tonne, which did not even cover the cost of planting rice. This meant that many farmers, including her, had a large amount of debt.

“I am now reducing the rice-planting land to only 18 rai, as selling paddy rice is not profitable any more. The more we grow, the more debt we have, because the price of fertiliser and pesticide is more and more expensive in contrast to the rice price,” she said, noting that she was more than Bt1 million in debt with the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives.

Yingluck’s rice-pledging policy was intended as a kind of price guarantee during a period of low rice prices. The government pledged farmers up to Bt15,000 per tonne for good quality rice. The idea was that when the rice price went up again, the farmers could redeem their rice and sell it for a high price in the market.

Another farmer in Nakhon Pathom’s Bang Len district, Withun, 75, told a similar story to Amphai’s. He said that his family’s livelihood was better during the Yingluck government due to high rice price.

“I have been growing rice for my entire life and I can say that now is the hardest time for farmers that I can remember,” he said.

“I cannot recall any time that the rice price was this low compared to my daily expenses. All of my children have had to abandon the family business and go to Bangkok to find a job.

“We do not want anything from the government, we just want them to keep the rice price at least Bt10,000 per tonne, or else the farmers nationwide will starve to death and there will be no more backbone of the country.”

The village head in Tambon Narapirom of Bang Len district, Supachai Srithongjoi, revealed that the debt problem had reached the point that many farmers have had to sell their land to topsoil mining businesses.

“Hundreds of rai of paddy field in this tambon have been sold to businessmen from outside to dig up the topsoil for sale,” Supachai said.

He added that the mining “caused many problems to the community, such as land sinking and landslides into nearby plots”.

“The large number of lorries that come to transport soil also damage the local roads,” Supachai said.

Asked about the government policy to reduce the amount of rice-farming area and encourage farmers to plant other crops, he said that most land in his region was not suitable for crops such as maize or sugarcane.

“Our region is irrigated by the Chao Phraya River and Ta Chin River, which is best for planting rice, and we can plant rice three times a year. Moreover, we do not have knowledge about growing other crops,” he said.

“I understand that the government wants to punish a corrupt politician, but at least we want the government to help us on this rice-price crisis.”

Another farmer from Phitsanulok’s Bang Rakam district, Suthon Manaowan, said that the government had provided no help on rice prices this year. He wanted government help not just because the price was so low, but because many farmers had suffered in the recent floods.

“Farmers need the rice price to be at least Bt7,000 per tonne if the government cannot bring back a |rice-pledging policy that can guarantee the price at Bt10,000 per tonne. If the government is going to issue a new policy to help the farmers, they have to do it soon,” Suthon said.

Asked about the claims of corruption, he said: “The government should let the justice system work out this issue, but they should also help the farmers.”

ABOUT 4,000 security officers will be deployed to maintain order at the Supreme Court on Friday, when up to 3,500 people are expected to gather in a show of support for former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

On that day, the high court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders is scheduled to deliver its verdict in the case, in which Yingluck is accused of negligence in connection with her government’s corruption-plagued rice-pledging scheme.

Security measures will also include 40 more surveillance cameras and three walk-through metal detectors installed in the area, in addition to three patrolling helicopters, 20 riot trucks and four ambulances, according to Metropolitan Police deputy chief Pol Maj-General Panurat Lakboon.

Of the nearly 16,000-square-metre court premises, 1,500 square metres would be allocated for Yingluck’s supporters, Panurat said yesterday.

Barricades would also be erected and officers posted to prevent Yingluck’s supporters – or “third parties with bad intent” – from trespassing in restricted court areas, he said.

Authorities have repeatedly warned of unidentified “third parties” that could try to create chaos during the event.

The crowd will be monitored using CCTV, the Bangkok deputy police chief said, adding that anyone who violated the law or provoked the crowd would be recorded by the cameras and could expect to face an arrest warrant.

Supreme Court officials yesterday also told the media planning to cover the verdict that security measures had been laid out including a plan to set up checkpoints at every gate at the Chaeng Wattana government complex, with free access only at the main gate near the Administrative Court.

News reporters were advised to submit their car licence numbers in advance to avoid any difficulties.

A police source said security checkpoints would also be set up in various areas across the country starting from tomorrow ahead of “judgment day”. Any suspicious movements would be blocked and the people involved could be detained, he said.

National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) deputy spokesperson Colonel Sirichan Nga-thong said yesterday after meeting with security units that NCPO secretary-general General Chalermchai Sitthisart had instructed forces to follow guidelines agreed to at the meeting.

Police would be responsible for overseeing the overall operations while the Interior Ministry and the Peace and Order Maintaining Command would play a supporting role, she said.

An estimated 3,000 to 3,500 people are expected to show up at the court on Friday as Yingluck and her former commerce minister Boonsong Teriyapirom hear court verdicts in their separate cases.

Sirichan said difficulties could include congestion, considering that the verdict readings could take many hours.

The NCPO secretary-general also had emphasised that officers should handle the situation properly and prevent violations of the law to ensure the peace, Sirichan said.

Meanwhile, red-shirt leaders have complained that security officers are preventing them from taking action on the day of the verdict.

Red-shirt United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship leaders such as Thida Thavornseth have reiterated that red-shirt activists nationwide have been under close scrutiny by officers in the past few weeks.

Democracy advocate Sombat Boonngamanong, better known as “Bor Kor Lai Jud”, posted on Facebook on Sunday that he had been contacted by an officer and instructed explicitly to not call on people to go to the court to support Yingluck. The directive was issued as he was scheduled to speak at a public forum on the rice-pledging policy.

Key Pheu Thai Party members such as Kittiratt Na Ranong, Chaturon Chaisaeng, Phumtham Wechayachai and Watana Muangsook have insisted that they will show support for the former prime minister despite authorities’ advice to the contrary.

Watana, a prominent critic of the current regime, yesterday seemed on the verge of being jailed three days ahead of the verdict on a sedition charge, but he was later released on a court order.

The Criminal Court granted a police request for his detention, but he was released on bail of Bt200,000.

Earlier yesterday, the court fined Watana Bt500 and sentenced him to a suspended one-month prison term for contempt of court, following his live broadcast on Facebook while he was inside the court.

In hindsight, it was clear the previous government, deliberately or not, had created a big loophole while implementing the largest rice-pledging scheme in Thai history. The programme was widely popular among the 15 million farmers and their family members nationwide, as the government’s rice-pledging price of Bt15,000 per tonne was nearly double the then-prevailing market price.

This meant nearly 40 million tonnes of rice were offered by farmers and went into warehouses leased by the government. The huge inventory pressured the government to resort to government-to-government (G-to-G) export deals to lower the burden of holding on to excess stock – but those deals turned out to be bogus.

For example, the Thai government entered into four export deals with Guangdong Stationery and Sporting Goods Import and Export Corp (GSSG) and Hainan Grain and Oil Industrial Trading Co (Hainan). The first deal with GSSG covered two million tonnes of old rice worth Bt18 billion while the second deal covered two million tonnes of new rice worth Bt28.9 billion.

The third deal with GSSG covered another 2.3 million tonnes worth over Bt20 billion while the fourth deal with Hainan was worth Bt847 million.

After the government announced these G-to-G deals, opposition Democrat MP Warong Dejkitvikom questioned them, raising the issue in Parliament of whether they were fake, while the Yingluck government was implementing the rice-pledging scheme.

The Yingluck government stumbled after Warong discovered that there was no record of big rice shipments to China as announced. The deals signed with GSSG and Hainan were not valid because G-to-G rice exports are possible only via China’s COFCO Corporation.

Later, Warong submitted documents to the National Anti-Corruption Commission to substantiate his accusation that the Yingluck government had announced fake G-To-G deals. One piece of crucial evidence is that the bank account of the Department of Foreign Trade, which was supposed to show income from G-to-G export sales, had an inflow of funds originating in Thailand.

That was highly unusual, prompting the anti-graft agency to launch its investigation into complaints that some private firms had benefited from these bogus deals. Later it was found that, contrary to the government’s announcement, there had been no rice exports to China. Former commerce minister Boonsong Teriyapirom and 15 others were charged with faking G-to-G export deals.

Banking and financial documents show that the money paid for the bogus rice deals mainly came from those associated with rice trading firm Siam Indiga Co, including an aide of former Pheu Thai MP Rapeephun Pongruangrong, as well as Nimol Rakdee, an aide of Apichart Chansakulporn, founder of Siam Indiga.

Authorities later seized assets totalling Bt7 billion which belonged to Apichart, Siam Indiga and related persons. The firm’s founder is now serving a six-year jail term for embezzlement due to the loss of a government-owned rice shipment previously sold to Iran.

The investigation also alleged that former commerce minister Boonsong and others were had committed wrongdoing by facilitating the fake G-to-G deals to allow some private firms to get government-owned rice at a low price for re-export by Siam Indiga and other firms at a big profit. This resulted in financial damage of over Bt20 billion to the state. Boonsong and others will also face a Supreme Court verdict on these alleged wrongdoings on August 25. The government has also pursued a civil compensation lawsuit against them.

Siam Indiga Co’s Apichart, who is better known as Sia Pieng, started out in the rice trading business via another firm, President Agri-Trading Co, and later became the country’s biggest rice exporter during the tenure of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, the elder brother of Yingluck.

Chatchawan, who was a permanent secretary to Justice Ministry from 2014 to 2015, will deliberate the draft together with attorney-general Pongniwat Yuthapanboriparn, Supreme Court judge Pattarasak Wannasaeng and retired general Akanit Muensawat, who all are vice-presidents of the committee.

Prior to the meeting, the NLA vice-president, Surachai Liengboonlertchai, said that he would propose that the committee members should not hold any benefit in private entities to ensure that they consider the draft law with the least possible bias.

Surachai’s view is that committee members overseeing the bill should be qualified on par with the state officials to be subject to the bill.

Under the bill, state officials and politicians must also not receive any position in private sectors within two years of leaving their state offices, Surachai said.

The bill, aimed at preventing conflicts of interest among state officials, will apply not only to corrupt officials but also their parents, partners, siblings and children.

Wrongdoings under this law will include receiving gifts, and taking actions or making judgements in favour of private entities in state projects or legal cases.

Written by the defunct National Reform Steering Assembly, the draft was approved.

Chayan, director of CMU’s Regional Centre for Social Science and Sustainable Development, along with the other four went to Chang Puak Police Station to acknowledge the charges.

They denied all the charges.

Since the “13th International Conference on Thai Studies” event was held at CMU from July 15 to 18, at least four academics have been summoned by police after displaying banners saying, “this was not a military camp, but an academic forum”.

Chayan was the latest person to be called upon by the police for allegedly violating a junta ban on political gatherings or activities.

Chayan was quoted by Transborder News as saying that he had not asked for permission from the military to organise the conference because it was an academic, not political, event. It was probably the banners that were displayed at the forum that had prompted the latest call from the police, he said.

Chayan insisted, however, that no political activities had been held at the four-day conference, despite the accusations against him, so he had no idea why he had been summoned. He added that he had consulted the Chiang Mai governor before the event, and that the governor had even presided over it.

A fellow academic, Chainarong Sretthachau, posted on Facebook that the group’s lawyer revealed that they would file evidence, as well as their testimonies, to the police via documents. The police called on them to report to the station again on September 1

Water management, economic-area development and rail-project development are among the main areas of focus for the premier during the visit.

Prayut’s trip to Thailand’s largest province covered field observation of a reservoir and a sufficiency-economy village on Monday, before the mobile Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

Irrigation management was the most discussed topic on his first day, following weeks of severe flooding in several northeastern provinces.

Local administrators proposed additional construction of minor reservoirs and water gates in order to solve the problem of overflowing water and support local agriculture.

Farmers, meanwhile, said that agricultural planning and a water-management plan should be synchronised in order to help facilitate crop fields located outside the irrigation area.

Last month, reservoirs behind five dams in Nakhon Ratchasima were found to be storing water at only 46 per cent of overall capacity, lagging well short of the expected level of 70 per cent, despite continual rain and thunderstorms in the province.

Monday’s meeting also touched on local economic development, such as the management of an immigration checkpoint, a dual-track rail construction project and support for small and medium-sized enterprises in line with the Eastern Economic Corridor project.