Thai Prime Minister to hear charges over rice scheme

Thailand's embattled Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has been summoned by an anti-corruption panel to hear charges of negligence over a government rice subsidy scheme, with her opponents, who are seeking to replace her, claiming the programme was rife with corruption.

If found guilty, she could be removed from office and face a five-year ban from politics.

Thailand's political crisis has become increasingly violent since mass anti-government protests began in November. Yingluck, who flew to the northern city of Chiang Rai on Wednesday, will not attend the hearing at the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) in person.

NACC officials say she will be represented by her lawyer, who will hear the charges set against her.

The prime minister, who denies the corruption charges, says she is willing to co-operate with the NACC "to establish the facts".

The rice subsidy programme - a flagship policy of Yingluck's administration - saw the Thai government buying farmers' crops for the past two years at prices up to 50% higher than world prices.

The policy was originally popular with farmers. However, it has led to Thailand's rice exports being badly hit and accumulated losses of at least $4.4bn (3.2bn euros: £2.6bn).

Recently, the scheme has left many farmers out of pocket, as the government cannot borrow money to make the payments until a new parliament has convened.

Yingluck says she was only in charge of formulating the policy, not the day-to-day running of the scheme.