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The Commerce Ministry plans to revise the whole pricing structure of consumer products following the decline of oil prices in the world market.

Somkiat Triratpan, inspector-general at the ministry, yesterday said the revision would allow such goods prices to be in line with the market mechanism.

“We have been receiving complaints from people that the prices of finished foods, for instance, are not [moving] in the same direction as the price decline of food ingredients. The price of one-meal dishes is now Bt35-Bt45 on average, and higher for some menus. 

“[On the other hand], vendors are claiming that they have higher burdens due to the higher prices of ingredients such as vegetable oil, rental prices for space in shopping malls or fresh markets, and the price of cooking gas. Many vendors also claim they have suffered due to a fall in the number of consumers buying finished meals at shopping malls and fresh-market outlets,” he said.

The division in charge of regulating the prices of consumer goods is monitoring the cost structure of those products, before making a further statement to the general public, Somkiat added. – The Nation

 

Budget carrier Peach eyes Bangkok as hub

Low-cost carrier Peach Aviation is looking to add more hubs, possibly choosing from among airports serving Seoul, Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City.

The Japanese airline also aims to carry 5.5 million to 6 million passengers in fiscal 2016, roughly twice as many as in fiscal 2013, according to chief executive officer Shinichi Inoue.

Peach now uses the Osaka area’s Kansai Airport and Okinawa’s Naha Airport as its hubs, flying 16 routes. It will consider adding greater Tokyo and Sapporo to its list of domestic hubs, he said.

A pilot shortage forced the budget carrier to reduce more than 2,000 flights between May and October last year, but this month it will welcome several former Self-Defence Force pilots, who are taking advantage of a government framework that smoothes defence personnel’s transition to the private sector. – Nikkei