Thailand Detects Fuel Smuggling From Malaysia

[george]

Thailand Detects Fuel Smuggling From Malaysia

BANGKOK: -- Thai authorities in the border towns have detected a rise in the smuggling of petrol and diesel from Malaysia following a sharp increase in domestic fuel prices.

The Nation newspaper reported that from last October to March this year, officials at the Padang Besar checkpoint arrested smugglers with a total of 65,000 litres of petrol and diesel.

Rakop Srisuppa-art, the Customs head in the southern city of Songkhla, said that in the first half of this month, officials confiscated 3,100 litres of smuggled petrol at the Padang Besar checkpoint.

Rakop said smuggling through the Sadao checkpoint had fallen because Malaysian officials were strictly enforcing rules and regulations to prevent smuggling.

Thai motorists are allowed to buy up to RM20 (RM1=Bt10.37) worth of diesel and can fill up their tanks with petrol.

The domestic price of diesel has topped a record Bt26 per litre while petrol is now over Bt27 per litre. Following the February increase in fuel prices in Malaysia, the new price of RON 97 petrol is 192 sen per litre, RON 92 petrol 188 sen per litre and diesel 158.1 sen per litre.

Thai Customs officials earlier discovered that some smugglers had redesigned their vehicles' tanks in order to store more petrol for resale in Thailand.

Last month, Malaysian authorities gave show-cause letters to eight petrol stations in Padang Besar in a move to curb smuggling of diesel to Thailand.

-- BERNAMA, MY 2006-04-16