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Coffee planters block Thai roads in price protest

BANGKOK: Angry planters blocked main roads linking Bangkok to southern Thailand on Monday in a protest to demand higher coffee prices, police said.

More than 1,000 protesters used hundreds of pickup trucks loaded with coffee beans to block roads in Sawee district of Chumporn province, about 620 km (387.5 miles) south of the Thai capital, police said.

"The protesters want 37 baht (99 U.S. cents) per kg instead of 32 baht currently," a police spokesman told Reuters.

"We do not know how long the protest will last. We are negotiating with the protestors now," he said.

Officials at Nestle Thailand, the biggest buyer of coffee in Chumporn province, were unavailable for immediate comment.

Chumporn is Thailand's biggest producing area for robusta coffee and is expected to grow about 40 tonnes this crop season, provincial agricultural officials told Reuters.

World coffee prices have fallen to about $1,200 per tonne this month, down from around $1,700 a year ago.-Reuters