Piyasvasti urges govt to drop energy subsidies
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Thailand will not face an energy crisis and the government should cancel the energy price subsidy policy to promote efficient energy use, former energy minister Piyasvasti Amranand said yesterday.
Piyasvasti, who is now chairman of the Environmental Energy Foundation, said people should not be overly worried about an energy shortage.
The country has an ample supply of oil, natural gas and coal. Alternative energy such as solar power has also become an important choice due to its low cost of production, he said on the topic of infrastructure at a seminar on “Thailand Biggest Questions: How to Prosper” held by the Thammasat Economics Association.
The country needs power plants that can serve people 24 hours a day, so more coal-fired plants need to be built to lessen Thailand’s heavy dependence on natural gas.
The Energy Ministry should cancel energy subsidies, which encourage the inefficient use of energy. The country should also streamline regulations that have hindered private investment in the energy business.
For the Bt2 trillion transport infrastructure development plan, the government should put a priority on the projects that will mainly benefit the national logistics system, such as the double track railroad and mass transit system.
The Bangkok-Chiang Mai high-speed train project might not be the most urgent project.
Suparat Sirisuwanangkura, chairman of the Automotive Industry Club of the Federation of Thai Industries, said he does not want to see frequent changes in energy policies, as that could make planning difficult for the auto industry.
The industry is tending to focus more on vehicles that will run on renewable energy such as ethanol or biodiesel or use a hybrid system.
