The situation could ripple through the nation’s economy and further batter growers struggling with falling domestic prices
2-MIN READ2-MINBloombergPublished: 8:30am, 14 Mar 2026Thai rice exports to the Middle East were halted as the escalating war disrupts shipments to the nation’s largest market for the grain, further straining farmers grappling with rising costs and reduced overseas demand.
Two ships carrying a combined 80,000 tonnes of rice bound for Iraq were suspended at a Bangkok port this week, with buyers instructing containers be unloaded and the grain returned to warehouses, Chookiat Ophaswongse, honorary president of the Thai Rice Exporters Association, said in an interview.
“Everything is at a standstill,” Chookiat said, adding that shipments to the Middle East could be suspended for months. “No new purchases are happening either because nobody knows what will happen.”
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