date:Jan 07, 2013
10 million tonnes and Vietnam 7.5 million tonnes, according to figures from the United States Department of Agriculture.
The dethroning is a blow to the country that prides itself as the food basket of Asia, but it is something local exporters had warned of for months as the government-run rice pledging scheme pummelled export figures.
Under the 15-month-old programme, the government guarantees farmers up to 15,000 baht (US$49) per tonne for white rice, more than 50 per cent higher than world