NAKHON RATCHASIMA, Feb 2 — Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha visited Nakhon Ratchasima province today for first-hand encounter with rice growers' problems.
At Phimai district this morning, Gen Prayut said that he chose to visit the province because it was an important rice production base and growers formed cooperatives.
He chaired the first onsite meeting of the National Rice Policy Committee there.
The venue of the prime minister's delegation including Interior Minister Anupong Paojinda and Commerce Minister Chatchai Sarikulya was heavily guarded. Security personnel combed it for explosives and search visitors for weapons before the prime minister's arrival.
Nakhon Ratchasima police chief Pol Maj Gen Thakoon Nattheesri said that security measures were intensified for the prime minister's delegation following the bomb explosions at the Siam Paragon shopping center in Bangkok last night.
No demonstrators showed up to challenge the delegation in Nakhon Ratchasima. The prime minister met representatives of local farmers and villagers this afternoon and his delegation was set to return to Bangkok at 5.30pm. (MCOT online news)
