Protesting Thai rubber farmers defy martial law

Thai rubber farmers defied a law banning political gatherings Tuesday as the industry reels from record low prices and tests the junta's resolve to end the kingdom's subsidy culture.
Dozens of farmers gathered in the southern town of Surat Thani to call on Thailand's new military rulers to do more to arrest tumbling prices that have left many facing financial ruin.
The protests are a significant test for the generals now running the world's largest rubber producer who vowed an end to the country's history of populist subsidy policies as part of their justification for seizing power in May.
Many rubber farmers live in the nation's south, a region home to the ultra-royalists who backed the May coup that brought the military to power. As their profits shrivel, the farmers now want payback.
Organisers have vowed to ramp up their demonstrations if the government refuses to buy their product at significantly above market prices.