About 300 corn farmers in Battambang province accused the district governor Thursday of fixing corn prices and preventing local farmers from selling corn at a higher price to Thai companies.
Rallying around the house of Kamrieng district Governor Sok Kong, the farmers accused the official of blocking Thai companies from accessing their villages, as the businesses had done in previous years. Angry protesters destroyed a large industrial scale used by one local buyer on a truck parked near the house.
“I think the local authority has blocked off Thai businesses from buying our products,” said Sun Kim Sour, a farmer who has not found a buyer for his 20 tons of stockpiled corn.
Thai companies who visited Battambang district in years past bought corn for about $0.10 per kg. But this year, the farmers say their only option is to sell to a business consortium run by Sok Kong’s associates. The consortium acts as a middleman and buys corn for about $0.07 per kg.
Sok Kong did not answer phone calls Thursday.
In addition, the farmers must pay high fees if they take their goods by truck to the Thai border, Sun Kim Sour said.
Farmer Soun Saing, 29, said the farmers now have no choice but to protest in front of Sok Kong’s house.
“We will die if no one responds to us,” he said.
An official at the Thai-owned CP Group (Cambodia) said Thursday that the company would still buy corn for $0.10 per kg this year. “We plan to buy all that they have,” he said.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said his company never travels across the border into Battambang.
Mei Makk, Cabinet chief of nearby Pailin municipality, said the price of corn dropped after avian influenza, or bird flu, spread through the region earlier this year. The Thai companies that buy the corn mainly use it for animal feed.
