Cabinet tells Boonsong to narrow scope of plan to add fast-food dishes to price control list

The reaction came after the Cabinet, which was chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong, questioned the feasibility of the proposal to include such menus on the list, given that it would be difficult to control prices across the whole country.

Commerce Minister Boonsong Teriyapirom said the Cabinet had instructed the ministry to specific the types of location and details of each menu so as to make it easier to administer the measure, which is aimed at alleviating the cost of living.

He said the ministry would spend another one to two weeks considering the details before resubmitting the proposal to ministers. 

In particular, he said the additional price-control measure would be enforced only at food courts in modern trade outlets and office buildings. 

It would also only apply in the seven provinces where the Bt300 minimum daily wage policy was introduced last month.

“The ministry will continue to pursue its plan to control the price of fast-food dishes, or one-dish menus, in particular areas, as there have been many complaints about expensive food. However, the government will not move to control the price of food for specific places and street vendors, such as in fresh markets, luxury restaurants and hotels, which are outside its controls,” said Boonsong.

The ministry will not only establish a ceiling price for fast-food dishes at food courts, but also provide details such as the quantity and quality of food to be made available, so that consumers are fairly treated, he said.

The minister added there would still be a price gap between business areas such as Silom and other urban areas. The government will therefore consider an appropriate price for each location. For instance, the control price of fast food in Silom may be Bt35 per dish, while in Rangsit it could be Bt25-Bt30.

In addition, as a continuation of its cheap-goods project, the ministry in cooperation with the Transport Ministry will set up low-price stores at transportation locations around the country, he said.

The Transport Ministry recently agreed to allocate space at rail stations, the Airport Link station and expressway stations for the Commerce Ministry to establish the outlets.

Boonsong said his ministry was now honing the details of the project.

The ministry also reported that about 1,000 “Thook Jai” shops – another government project to sell cheaper goods around the country – should be able to open their doors by the end of the month. About 500 of them will be located in Bangkok and nearby provinces.

Meanwhile, the ministry will today meet with 200 consumer goods manufacturers in an effort to convince them to freeze their retail prices for another four months, Boonsong said.

Kittiratt yesterday also chaired a meeting of the National Energy Policy Committee (NEPC), at which the Energy Policy Administration Committee was instructed to consider the means and timing of retail fuel-price adjustments, as well as contributions to the Oil Fund.

The NEPC also approved to maintain retail price of natural gas for vehicles at Bt10.50 per kilogram for another three months until August 16. 

The price of liquefied petroleum gas for transportation will also unchanged at Bt21.13 per kilo for another three months, through August 15.