BANGKOK – Attempting to counter accusations of economic mismanagement, the government unveiled today a bold proposal to turn all of its unsold rice stocks into a “world-class tourist attraction and sports destination” by creating the world’s largest artificial ski mountain.
At a joint press conference with the Tourism Authority of Thailand, prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra revealed images of the proposed 340-meter high hill, complete with five automated chairlifts and a 200-room ski lodge and hotel at the base.
Located just east of Suvarnabhumi airport, the new “Khao Khao” (Rice Hill) will set a new world record for largest artificial ski-slope, largest ski resort in the tropics, and the largest pile of inedible food. According to the TAT, it will attract five million visitors a year and earn 950 million baht in revenues, as well as revitalize the economy of the Bang Sao Thong district.
“It’s a very logical and very efficient use of our extra rice stocks,” said Yingluck, who explained that the 15,000 baht per ton price paid to farmers for rice now makes “perfect sense” since it costs much more than 15,000 baht to generate a ton of snow in Thailand, where average temperatures are about 27 degrees centigrade.
The plan, which aims for completion in time for ski season in 2016, calls for the transport of 900,000 tons of rice from government storage to an empty field near the motorway, where it will be piled into a massive mountain that will congeal into a solid structure that can hold the necessary infrastructure for a ski resort.
When asked by reporters whether congealed, rotting rice might not make an ideal surface for alpine skiing, Yingluck responded that additional layers of rice could easily be added every year, since the rice-pledging program has been renewed.
Opposition MPs from the Democrat party have already accused the rice mountain program of being corrupt and impractical, pointing out that the contracts for both the ski resort and access road have been awarded to companies with known ties to the Pheu Thai party.
In a related announcement, the Pheu Thai party announced that it would raise its pledging price for next year’s rice to 17,500 baht per ton, and thanked its supporters for their loyalty.
