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A group of farmers from Thailand’s western region yesterday took their plight to Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport, carrying donation boxes, and posters expressing their hardship to inbound tourists after the caretaker government did not pay for their rice. The donation box reads “Absorbing Farmers’ Tears”. Farmers waited for foreign tourists emerging out the airport’s departure lounge and gave them token made from rice straws tied with flag color ribbon as a gesture of welcoming. Some tourists also dropped donation in the boxes and some also greeted them with sympathy. Their leader Thongchai Kanchananukul from Kanchanaburi province said their arrival to the airport was to show foreign visitors how farmers have suffered from the caretaker government’s rice-pledging scheme and unpaid payment for their rice for up to six months now. Farmers were treated nicely by airport staff and police with understanding and did not try to stop them from annoying visitors. They all returned in several pickup cars after a half an hour campaign http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/farmers-seek-sympathy-tourists/