Poor Thai farmers guard their fields as rice prices soar

0 Comments | AFP, April, 2008

BANGLANE, Thailand (AFP) — Crime had never really been a problem in Takham Uthao's impoverished rice farming village in central Thailand until prices for his crop began hitting record highs.

The price of Thai rice jumped 50 percent last month to levels never before seen, turning the output from Takham's paddy fields into a far more valuable commodity just as the harvest was getting underway.

Now staving off thieves from his paddies is part of his daily routine.

"I always have to listen closely and act fast if my dogs bark, so I can run to see what's going on," the 48-year-old farmer told AFP.

Takham said he can't blame people for stealing a bit of his crop as soaring global rice prices have pushed up costs at home too and food inflation has made...