El Nino driving Thai govt to wean farmers off water-intensive rice

Bangkok

RICE farmer Prapatpon Rungsatien perches on a plastic chair in a classroom in rural Thailand. Ceiling fans stir the humid air as she and 49 of her neighbours hunker down for a talk on South-east Asian economics.

Ms Prapatpon, 48, returned to school last month for a state- funded training programme designed to wean farmers off water-intensive rice and teach them how to grow other crops. With lessons spanning everything from accounting to chicken husbandry, the government is trying to reduce a record stockpile of the cereal at a time when farmers are facing the worst drought in two decades.