Price Of Gas (petrol) In Thailand ?

[Heng]

Well, plenty of people are talking about gasoline prices in dollars, pounds, and Baht in terms of varying quantitites of different grades of gasoline, and in different countries. Great, now it's crystal clear.

Here's an easier comparison:

We have the same 2005 Toyota Camry model (with only slight cosmetic differences: interior and exterior) in Bangkok AND in Austin, Texas. But importantly, fuel capacity is identical at 18 1/2 gallons or 70.03 liters.

**

27.91 Baht per liter at the JET on Sukapibal III, Bangkok 91 octane (considered lower premium here; but we have been using it as standard because you'll often run into JET stations that only carry 95 gasahol instead of 95 benzene, which was what we used as standard before; yeah, I know 91 works just as good, we all have our preferences anyway)

"91 tem tung, klrab" = 1,953 Baht (up to you whether this is $59.09 @ 33.05 OR $56.93 @ 34.30)

**

***

$3.39 per gallon at the Chevron and Texaco about 5 minutes from my house in Rob Roy (although prices in Austin vary quite a bit and you'll see variations of 10-30 cents PER GALLON on the same day depending on where you fill up) also 91 octane (considered premium in Texas... with the other option being 87 or 89 octane.... which runs just as good)

"fill 'er up" (I say to myself) = $62.17 (again, it's your call whether this is 2,054 Baht at the offshore rate or 2,132 at the onshore rate; depends where you get your income streams are, mine are Thail + US so it's either/or)

***

Given, I've never completely drained the gas tanks of these particular vehicles to see if that would be the result, but the tank specs and pump prices are accurate. In summary, it's only a slight difference, only $6 if you look at it at the "extreme" end forex wise. Will leave it to TV'ers to nitpick as to what the value of full service gas stations here are vs. "better" quality gasoline is in the US, and how compares to other places in the world, etc.

[BAF]

Well, plenty of people are talking about gasoline prices in dollars, pounds, and Baht in terms of varying quantitites of different grades of gasoline, and in different countries. Great, now it's crystal clear.

You are right, for example I didn't add prices in Baht. I didn't simply because I don't know what exchange rate I should use...

Anyway, at € 1 = THB 46.5:

1 liter of Diesel is THB 53.48

1 US gallon of Diesel is THB 202.14

1 liter of Benzina (gasoline/petrol) is THB 62.78

1 US gallon of Benzina (gasoline/petrol) is THB 237.29

BTW, in Italy (and AFAIK in all of the Western Europe) you don't have anymore benzina with different grades of octane, just "green" unleaded.

Different fuel companies offer various premium grades of Benzina and Diesel (ie "EcoPower", "EcoDiesel" etc) which they call differently one company from the other.

Given, I've never completely drained the gas tanks of these particular vehicles to see if that would be the result, but the tank specs and pump prices are accurate. In summary, it's only a slight difference, only $6 if you look at it at the "extreme" end forex wise. Will leave it to TV'ers to nitpick as to what the value of full service gas stations here are vs. "better" quality gasoline is in the US, and how compares to other places in the world, etc.

Differences anywhere in the world are made up almost entirely of taxes.

You get countries with little or no taxation (i.e. the USA and Thailand) with similar prices, countries with heavy taxation (ie Western Europe) and countries which even subsidize the fuel (ie. Iran and Venezuela. Thailand has been in this camp in the very recent past).

As for the service, in Italy in the same filling station you can stop your car at serviced pumps or self-service pumps and pay accordingly. The majority of the people stop at the self-service pumps...

If Thailand offered the same and the savings were comparable I bet the situation would be the same as in the West. It doesn't because the "serf" who fills your tank costs next to "nothing". Upcountry they can get as low as 1500 Baht/month. Heck, in the bigger stations they even "employ" people to wave company flags..!

BTW, if offered the option in LOS I would pay slightly more to use self-service pumps instead of the serviced ones.

I wouldn't have to wait for them even if they were just lazying around and I would have the peace of mind of knowing they hadn't spilled the fuel on the body of the car, they hadn't left the plug loose and above all that they weren't trying one of the their many scams filling my car.

As always and everywhere, you get what you pay for...

[BAF]

P.S. Forgot to add, in Italian service stations you can clean your windscreen and check your tyres pressure yourself for free, if you fill your tank up at a serviced pump they will usually clean your windscreen for you and no tip is expected nor usually given.

Edited May 21, 2007 by BAF

[Heng]

BTW, if offered the option in LOS I would pay slightly more to use self-service pumps instead of the serviced ones.

I wouldn't have to wait for them even if they were just lazying around and I would have the peace of mind of knowing they hadn't spilled the fuel on the body of the car, they hadn't left the plug loose and above all that they weren't trying one of the their many scams filling my car.

Actually you have that option at a lot of stations (at least just about any PTT or JET) station as their pumps are always "on" during operating hours (not cut on and off from inside the store as in a self service station say in the US). No need to wait for a serf, you can even instruct your own serf to fill the tank, or if you're feeling blue collar, you can even do so yourself. Never had any overflow issues with serfs. Just tell them to round up after the first click. Like any good worker, they can be instructed.

Edited May 21, 2007 by Heng