Agriculture Department Refutes 12,000-Baht Lime Price, Threatens Lawsuit

The Department of Agriculture has refuted reports claiming lime trees for the Udon Thani World Horticulture Expo cost 12,000 baht each, calling the document fake. Deputy Director-General Sasina Panthan clarified that the circulated document is not an official one approved by the department, making it false information. The department had previously revised the terms of reference to align with market prices, so the leaked document was a proposal from another agency, not something the Ministry of Agriculture used to seek budget approval. The actual lime trees purchased for the project had prices vastly different from the distorted data, and only six trees were used for the event. Sasina stated that the release of an edited, manipulated document by ill-intentioned parties — with the header, date, and important details removed — constitutes deliberate intent to create misunderstanding against the event organizer, the Department of Agriculture and the Ministry of Agriculture, making them targets of social backlash. The department will therefore consult its legal team to pursue the case to the fullest extent under the Computer Crimes Act B.E. 2560. She appealed to the public to consider verified facts from official sources to avoid damaging the country's image, as this event is an international garden exhibition aimed at presenting innovations and important Thai plant varieties, particularly from the Northeast, as well as varieties from numerous countries. Fabricating fake news for political purposes may affect and damage the nation's reputation and undermine the morale of all working committees.