Petrol Pump Curfews Loom For Thailand

[george]

Petrol pump curfews loom for Thailand

Govt proposal to lower oil consumption as prices soar

BANGKOK: -- In a radical move to ease oil price pressures, Thailand is considering imposing curfews at petrol stations which, except for those on highways, will close at 10pm in an effort to lower petrol consumption.

The Nation said that the plan was unveiled by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinwatra during the weekly Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

'This is yet to be implemented. But he wants to send a signal to the public that it is time for everyone to lower their fuel consumption after the Energy Ministry's campaign had little concrete success,' the paper quoted government spokesman Jakrapob Penkair as saying.

Sompop Thanatheeraphong, chairman of the oil traders association, however, feels the plan may create an unfair environment.

'If this plan is to be imposed, all stations should be subject to a similar rule. For example all must close at midnight. That will lower oil consumption and reduce electricity consumption at over 10,000 stations across the country,' he said.

Energy Minister Prommin Lertsuridej has been assigned to study the details of the curfew plan and is to present them at next week's Cabinet meeting, Mr Jakrapob said.

To set an example, all ministers have been advised to install equipment that will permit their cars to switch to the cheaper natural gas. 'The prime minister announced that he will be the first to do so, to be an example for the public,' Mr Jakrapob said.

'He also expressed concern about the current account deficit. Though the deficit is not a serious problem, he said, it is a warning that all must reduce oil consumption as fuel imports also contribute to the deficit.'

For the first time in two years, Thailand posted a current account deficit of US$19 million.

Earlier, the Energy Ministry suggested that stricter action could be taken if oil prices continue to climb. Among its proposals is early shutdown of TV broadcasts.

The plans were unveiled following another surge in oil prices on Tuesday to over US$42 a barrel following a suspected al Qaeda attack over the weekend in the Saudi oil hub of Khobar which left 22 people dead.

--The Business Times 2004-06-04

[Dutchy]

'If this plan is to be imposed, all stations should be subject to a similar rule. For example all must close at midnight. That will lower oil consumption and reduce electricity consumption at over 10,000 stations across the country,' he said.

To set an example, all ministers have been advised to install equipment that will permit their cars to switch to the cheaper natural gas. 'The prime minister announced that he will be the first to do so, to be an example for the public,' Mr Jakrapob said.

The budget deficit is a serious problem, if this continues it may be the end of TRT. I'm not sure if this would be a bad development for Thailand.

Thaksin's words that he will be the first to switch to natural gas surely won't apply to his Porsche 911....

Dutchy

[stumonster]

maybe I misjudged them.. their plan for the early closing of bars and nightspots was a forward thinking move aimed at reducing the energy consumption of the country....

I am thinking they have switched their brains off already and saved the country a milliwatt...

[Thailand]

Duh!

Won't people fill up before 10pm?

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Duh!

Won't people fill up before 10pm?

The TRT people hadn't thought of that.

[plachon]

maybe I misjudged them.. their plan for the early closing of bars and nightspots was a forward thinking move aimed at reducing the energy consumption of the country....

I am thinking they have switched their brains off already and saved the country a milliwatt...

What kind of energy are you thinking of Stu? The fossil fuel kind, or the kilojoules saved by all that less friction from grinding hips per night?

Isn't it reassuring to know the country is in the care of such safe and forward thinking hands and minds? Mind you, pity the old 16 wheeled rigs and songtaew drivers, bringing the goods and foods down to the 12 million hungry mouths of Bangkok running out of fuel at 4.00 am on the highways south, cos there ain't a drop of fuel allowed to be sold til 6.00 am, order of the boss.

[Wolfie]

In a radical move to ease oil price pressures, Thailand is considering imposing curfews at petrol stations which, except for those on highways, will close at 10pm in an effort to lower petrol consumption.

Or maybe even drive round to the nearest Highway petrol station and fill up there

(thereby driving more, using more fuel and totaly screwing the PM's great idea!?!)

Closing the stations at 10pm and leaving highway stations open until 12 wont do didly squat.

Obviously the PM hasnt bought enough shares in the big petrol station chains, he wants to force their profits down to reduce their share prices so he can buy a load at a cheap price then lift all the restriction to push the share price back up.

Man, hes one clever mofo.

[udon]

The TRT people hadn't thought of that.

That's cos it's logical. A word that's absent from Thai dictionaries

[whattodo]

AMAZING THAILAND

[tuky]

Earlier, the Energy Ministry suggested that stricter action could be taken if oil prices continue to climb. Among its proposals is early shutdown of TV broadcasts.

oops, tv has finished darling. Lets get in the car and go for a drive

[Goat Roper]

Quit subsidizing fuel prices and let fuel prices float, that should help.

[taxexile]

Quit subsidizing fuel prices and let fuel prices float, that should help.

i think that is the only way that will make people think about petrol usage.

people will bitch at you for leaving a light on for ten minutes but will think nothing of driving 20kms for a bowl of 20b noodles.

whack the price up a bit ! but then the folks who live out in the country and have to drive longer distances get hit harder.

[Artisi]

The amount of thought put into this latest scheme is absolutely mind-boggling and I wouldn't be surprised if there isn't a few Nobel prizes in the offering for this latest scheme - but we must remember, then this IS Thailand.

[hkt83100]

In a radical move to ease oil price pressures, Thailand is considering imposing curfews at petrol stations which, except for those on highways, will close at 10pm in an effort to lower petrol consumption.

Better stop all Benz, Volvo, whatever limos from picking up the kids at school, standing for two hours in front of the school with engines and aircon running. Or give that guy another 90 days to ease the traffic in BKK. This looks like getting in control of drugs by prohibiting sale of drugs after midnight :-(

[Dutchy]

Quit subsidizing fuel prices and let fuel prices float, that should help.

whack the price up a bit ! but then the folks who live out in the country and have to drive longer distances get hit harder.

Does anyone know which countries also subsidize petrol?

I think this is a very serious problem for Thailand as it competes mostly on low costs with the rest of the world. Technologies are imported and one reason the Japanese are here is because of exessive taxes on imported cars for instance. (136% on imported cars) When prices and inflation would increase in Thailand the need to focus on competitive capabilities would be very urgent and this constitutes a big problem as Thailand has no innovative industries... It has famous PhDs like the one with a PhD in criminal justice but like all things, it doesn't benefit the area of expertise in Thailand...

Let the petrol prices be set by the market, prices will increase and the Thais will have to find a way to make their products competitive. It's high time to grow up for the Thais...Any thoughts?

Dutchy

[plachon]

Quit subsidizing fuel prices and let fuel prices float, that should help.

whack the price up a bit ! but then the folks who live out in the country and have to drive longer distances get hit harder.

Does anyone know which countries also subsidize petrol?

Let the petrol prices be set by the market, prices will increase and the Thais will have to find a way to make their products competitive. It's high time to grow up for the Thais...Any thoughts?

Dutchy

Very few countries are crazy enough to directly subsidize fuel, but lots, in fact most countries, indirectly subsidize it, by refusing to tax the environmental impacts of fuel use. Hence, most of the fuel tax revenue gets ploughed back into the general economy, like roads and airports, thus contributing to greater fuel usage and worse air quality, etc. If there was a 5 % environmental duty on every litre of fuel sold, it would probably make a lot of people think twice about buying gas guzzlers AND would provide a tonne of revenue to actually make the country a bit more inhabitable - cleaner air, water, more forests, parks that kind of thing and ultimately, a living planet to pass on to our children. Probably a bit challenging for the boys who wank over their 3.6 litre tools, but you'll get over it.

[Insight]

Remember the petrol protests in the UK a few years ago? Protesters cut off wagons transporting petrol from the depots, pumps went dry, massive queues at stations and in general, nationwide chaos.

In a roundabout way, surely this is the government encouraging a similar situation by closing stations therefore limiting access at obscure hours?

Madness...

[stumonster]

Let the petrol prices be set by the market, prices will increase and the Thais will have to find a way to make their products competitive. It's high time to grow up for the Thais...Any thoughts?

with the rise in fuel price, so does the cost of everything rise.

if they didn t subsidise fuel I am sure the cost of living would be much higher, and with the average thai on 5-10 000 baht per month I think they would have more to worry about than a bit of unrest in the south.

[astral]

Duh!

Won't people fill up before 10pm?

Of course they will,

but logical thinking is beyond the scope of the goverment minsters!!

[dplast]

OK, I think they may have something here.. Closing gas stations early at least cuts back on energy, all those lit stations go dark and it may be a way of bringing the energy situation out for people to notice. Anyway, it is a very thai way to do things, politly doing something with out making anyone really uncomfortable..........

To me its things like this that Make Thailand a neat place to hang out.

[megashox]

What about the 100's of moonlighting jobs that would be lost? Some of the poorest people in Thailand are working in the petrol pumps. There are even several who are students during daytime and supplement their income doing the night-shift at pumps. They can sell Liverpool lottery tickets I suppose!

How about something more novel like limiting the number of personal car registrations per household or even very high tax on larger engine vehicles for personal use? That wouldn't be polite - I think not.

[p1p]

Who lobotomised these people? My four and five year olds come up with more workable solutions to almost every problem these people mess up.

I only hope they will not change their minds about keeping highway stations open.

We have a truck that drives Chiang Mai-Bangkok and back on alternative nights. On the few occasions when the driver has to make the run in the daytime, the fuel consumption and trip time is increased substantially. I can just imagine the total chaos, and vast increases in fuel consumption, if all trucks were forced to drive during the day.

No, closing petrol stations at night is an idiotic recipe for further disasters to occur.

[Foggy Bottom]

Several thoughts

1. The majority of filling stations are franchised to foreign owned oil companies

2. The "convenience store" attached to most petrol stations are valuable and familiar shopping stopd for tourists

3. The creeping shut down of Thailand after midnight will give the Police and Army greater freedom of unseen movement - especially in those areas (in the north) where people are known to be disappeared from their villages after dark

4. Thaksin's closeness to Beijing is threatening to make Thailand another Communist satellite state with similar quality of life (access to facilities) as those "enjoyed" in Laos or Vietnam. "Thin end of the wedge" springs to mind here.

5. Current account deficit is the justification but if he'd stop dreaming up grandiose schemes and implementing huge cost projects without proper budgetary guidance, the current account would be fine. (The next government is going to have to have a fire sale to foreign investment to make up the balance just as the Democrats did after the 97 crash)

6. Forecast - stores like 7-eleven will be the next to be curfewed (also a foreign owned multinational)

(edit) 7. How many more Burmese and Cambopian fishing boats will get caught smuggling cheaper fuel into Thailand this year? We see petrol etc as cheap here (I can remember B 9 a litre in 1999) but the neighbours obviously think we're expensive.

However, at least he is addressing local issues with this one, but deregulating and desubsidising fuel prices can't happen here - can you imagine the effect of petrol jumping to UK levels where they're talking about 3 quid a litre by Christmas? 210 Baht a litre here? It would be civil war on the streets.

Personally I'm waiting for the next analysis of farm household personal debt levels - despite the loan interest moratorium (or because of it) farm debt per household had risen from 27,500 Baht in 2000 to 86,000 last year - no-one told them that the repayments being reduced by the interest element was so they could reduce the capital by maintaining the same monthly payment, thus they all went out and used the extra "disposable" to take on more debt encouraged by the government's drive to boost consumer spending - if they struggled to repay 27,500, how they going to service and repay 86,000 ? Especially if fuel prices soar?

Gaz

[sbk]

Obviously the PM hasnt bought enough shares in the big petrol station chains, he wants to force their profits down to reduce their share prices so he can buy a load at a cheap price then lift all the restriction to push the share price back up.

Man, hes one clever mofo.

Wolfie, you cynic! He's just trying to help contain energy consumption! The 30 baht health care scheme was for the people's benefit too.

Oh no, wait a minute. Didn't he buy up shares in hospitals that were going bust because of the 30 baht health care plan? Hmmm...

[Darknight]

i said it before :

Just came out of the jungle.....

idiots.

[Digger]

6. Forecast - stores like 7-eleven will be the next to be curfewed (also a foreign owned multinational)

I think 7-11 is owned by the CP group which is one of Thailands most profitable and successfull companies, owned for the most part by one very wealthy Thai family. No doubt Mr T also has a substantial shareholding in this public company. The use of the 7-11 name is merely a licence and does not indicate ownership by a foreign company.

[Mai Pai]

What would be a good move? The price of petrol is already rising, so taxing it would have a dubious "double effect" on prices. An increase would also take a heavy toll on competitive production of exports. Fewer exports may mean less income and greater deficit. Reducing consumption is something no country has been able to do successfully (without protests and riots).

[marto]

Duh!

Won't people fill up before 10pm?

Of course they will,

but logical thinking is beyond the scope of the goverment minsters!!

1. I WILL fill up my tank before 10 pm even if I do not need petrol.

2. Are there some tax discounts for the cars with natural gas-systems?

3. Curfews.. no petrol after 10 pm, no bars, no TV.. no.. no... It could be easier - a total curfew - no pepople in the streets after 10 pm! And the electricity shuts down automaticlly at 10.30 pm... If you get cought in 10.01 pm outside - fine...B 10 000... see - low electricity&petrol consumption... the budget - filled up with fines..

Some people should read Orwell's "1984"...

[Up2U]

Remeber that in the UK the tax is 95% of the cost.

You don't have to subsidise to get cheap petrol - just don't tax it.

As said above, one of the reasons for Thailand's exports being competitive is that fuel costs are a small part of the equation. Same in US. But in Europe ....

But closing petrol stations at 10.00 p.m. is stoooopid - the queues at 9.00 p.m. will be horrendous.

Better to ensure that all single-occupant cars are penalised - must be some way to do this.

[mtsanford]

I remember back in the late 70's in the US when you could only buy gas on odd or even numbered days depending on your license plate (at least in California). Just as projected, it cut gas consumption in half!

Oh, wait, actually I don't think it had any effect. Hmmm....

Seriously though, the only way these kind of schemes cut consumption is by extremely inconveniencing people who get caught withoug gas in the times they can't buy any.

You know what would really happen is either stations will ignore the law (i.e. little bribes) or mom-and-pop operations pop up by petrol stations selling maekong bottles full of petrol for 30 baht a liter.

(I guess my point is that not just Thai leaders are stupid... so lets not bash the Thais so hard... )