Prayut orders fixing diesel price to Bt30 per litre
Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha said on Wednesday (October 20) that the government will control the price of diesel fuel to Bt30 per litre after the fuel prices have been rising recently and affected many sectors especially transport truck operators.
“We have several types of diesel fuels available in the market such as the B7, B10 and B20. They are sold at different prices due to different ingredients,” said the premier. “If we use the money from Oil Fuel Fund to subsidize a specific fuel, the prices of other types will automatically go up. However, the government will prioritize keeping the diesel price at Bt30 per litre first to limit the impact to vehicle users.”
“As for the demand of truck operators to reduce diesel price to Bt25 per litre, this proposal will require further study on the cost,” added Prayut. “Currently domestic consumption of fuels is rising rapidly due to expanding economy and constructions of new roads, which further complicated fuel price issues.”
When asked why fuel prices in Thailand are so high when we can produce certain types of oil, Prayut replied “Domestically produced oils are responsible for only 20 per cent of domestic consumption. Furthermore, some of the oils we produce are of low quality that we sell to other countries for extra revenue.”
“Thailand imports roughly 80 per cent of oil that we use domestically from overseas. Which is why the fuel prices are currently rising following the trend of global oil prices,” said Prayut.