THAILAND: Fear of shortages as rice prices keep rising

THAILAND: Fear of shortages as rice prices keep rising

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The top quality Thai hom mali rice now costs US$1,000 a tonne - up more than three-fold from the start of the year. A more inferior quality of 25 percent cracked rice, which the WFP buys for its programme, is now just less than US$800 - nearly three times more than four months ago. Many traditional exporting nations, including Cambodia, Egypt, India and Pakistan, have banned exports of rice, while China and Vietnam have cut back dramatically.

"Malnutrition is almost certainly going to rise significantly in many of the poorest parts of Asia," Action Aid's international director, John Samuel, told IRIN.

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This could blow up to be a severe crisis in South Asia. Many of the nations there face a huge dilemma as many of the poor are starting to be unable to buy rice which is a food staple of that part of the world. This could lead to large scale violence and unrest.

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