Thai military government approves first rice sale since coup

A soldier checks sacks of rice at a warehouse in Ayutthaya province, north of Bangkok July 3, 2014. REUTERS/Chaiwat Subprasom

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's military government approved the sale of 73,000 tonnes of rice from government stocks in its first successful sale since the army seized power in May, less than the 167,000 tonnes it aimed to sell in a tender last week.

The sale of rice, worth more than 737 million baht (13.83 million pounds), from state warehouses to rice exporters, millers and domestic retailers follows a failure to shift any grain last week, in the military's first tender since it took control.