Democrats slam govt failure on rising prices
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Democrat Party spokesman Chavanont Intarakomalyasut yesterday called for the removal of the commerce minister and the Commerce Ministry permanent secretary for their failure to contain rising prices.
The spokesman criticised the government’s measures to tackle price rises as merely lip service.
Chavanont praised Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra for admitting that Thais are facing a problem of rising prices but he said he was disappointed that the government had not taken appropriate or correction measures to tackling the situation.
“The government has invented phrases like ‘cheap across the land’ to overshadow the fact that everything is expensive,” he said.
Chavanont added that the list of goods that are subjected to price control are only a few vegetables such as kennel, morning glory, cabbage, tomato, coriander, onion leeks and lime, as listed on the website of the Internal Trade Department. In reality, the price of every vegetable has risen sharply: for instance, the controlled price of kennel is Bt30 per kilogram, but the vegetable is actually sold for Bt40 per kg.
The Democrat spokesman questioned Commerce Ministry permanent secretary Yanyong Phuangrach about where the ministry could buy a school uniform for boys at Bt91.69 per set, because the House Committee on Parliamentary Affairs had surveyed the market and found that a school shirt costs Bt192 and a pair of shorts costs Bt335, four times higher than the controlled price. He said a school uniform for girl students has been set at Bt133.67, but in reality a school blouse alone costs Bt205 and a skirt another Bt295.
Commerce Minister Boonsong Teriyaphirom admitted yesterday that ready-to-eat food in Bangkok is over-priced but refused to heed the call from the opposition to remove Yanyong for failure to solve the price rise, saying the permanent secretary did not make any mistakes.
He said generally the price of goods is at acceptable levels but the ready-to-eat meals in Bangkok’s malls and supermarkets are too expensive, although they are subjected to price control. He said the government would monitor the price of goods consistently.
Meanwhile, the prime minister has instructed economic ministers to today survey food prices in fresh markets in Bangkok, Nakhon Pathom, Ratchaburi and Chon Buri to check the cause of price rises, Deputy Government Spokesman Anusorn Iamsa-ard said.
