THE world's biggest rice exporter, Thailand, said yesterday it wants to form an Opec-style cartel with four South-east Asian neighbours so that together they have more control over international prices of the commodity.

Thai Commerce Minister Mingkwan Saengsuwan plans to talk with counterparts in Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam about forming a cartel to gain more influence over prices, a government spokesman said.

'Though we are the food centre of the world, we have had little influence on the price,' the spokesman said. 'With the oil price rising so much, we import expensive oil but sell rice very cheaply and that's unfair to us and hurts our trade balance.'

Laos Foreign Ministry spokesman Yong Chanthalansy said yesterday the Laotian government would 'seriously consider' the idea of creating a cartel as it would give the five countries 'bargaining power'.

Cambodia, which has championed the rice cartel idea before, also welcomed the latest proposal and said it was a 'necessity' given the current global food crisis.

Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, who brought up the idea of a grouping modelled after Opec - which sets oil prices - during his discussions in Bangkok on Wednesday with Myanmar's Prime Minister, Lieutenant-General Thein Sein, said Myanmar supported the idea.

Officials in Vietnam are studying the idea.

ASSOCIATED PRESS