Reuters

Thailand is facing delays in plans to export millions of tonnes of rice from state stockpiles because of a labour shortage at ports after hundreds of thousands of foreign workers fled amid fears of a military crackdown on illegal migrants.

The military government has started selling rice from the stockpile amassed during a disastrous and costly subsidy scheme under the administration toppled by the country’s armed forces in a coup in May.

Thailand aims to ship 10mn tonnes of the grain this year, helping it regain the crown – lost under the subsidy scheme – of the world’s top rice exporter.

But shipments of 500,000 tonnes have already been delayed due to a labour shortage, traders said on Thursday.

Most of that rice was parboiled grade destined for African buyers, they added.

The volume is equivalent to the combined stockpile held in North Africa.

More than 200,000 Cambodians working in Thailand fled in June as rumours spread of the military enforcing measures to regulate illegal labour, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

Chan Nontakal was one of the Cambodians who fled.

He has just returned to his job as a stevedore at the Phra Pradaeng port around 30km (19 miles) south of Bangkok, one of Thailand’s biggest rice export terminals.

“I fled Thailand in June when there were rumours about the army crackdown on migrant workers and that hundreds of those who were illegal would be in jail for months,” said Chan.

He and his crew clambered up steep wooden stairs, hauling 50kg (110 pound) sacks of the grain on their backs from a barge to a ship destined for the Middle East.

The barges bring rice from Thai paddy fields along canals to the ports.

Registered and illegal foreign labour, mostly from Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia, is key to the construction, manufacturing and fisheries industries in Thailand, Southeast Asia’s second largest economy.

The government has denied there was a crackdown.

“The government has even sponsored buses to bring them back to work since we don’t want the disruption to last long as it will hurt our export sector,” said an official at the ministry of labour who did not want to be named as she was not authorised to speak to the media.

But many workers have not returned.

“Only around 50% have come back and we still face a severe lack of labour for rice stevedoring,” said Nontawat Na-rasi, the owner of Srichang Crane & Maritime Co Ltd, which loads rice for several Thai rice exporters. “Around 20-30% of stevedoring companies are out of business due to labour shortages and that will have an impact on rice exports.”

The exodus of workers exacerbated an existing labour shortage after two slow years in the export industry following the introduction of the rice subsidy scheme.

Thailand shipped a record 10.6mn tonnes in 2011, before the subsidy scheme started.

Exports fell sharply in 2012 and 2013 as the government bought rice from farmers at well above market prices, making the grain too expensive to export and leading to the build-up of an estimated 18mn tonnes in state stockpiles.

That reduced the need for manpower to load vessels and barges, leading many migrant workers to seek employment elsewhere even before the exodus in June.

But delays due to the labour shortage could see Thailand miss its 10mn-tonne export target, traders said.

Rice loading is a labour intensive job and with a labour shortage like this, exports could fall far short of 9mn tonnes, one Bangkok-based trader said.

Stevedore Chan is toiling as part of a five-man crew, much smaller than optimal for the job, said foreman Tho Sookchan.

“This is not even half of the manpower we need,” he said.

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