After a tour of Issan starting from Chiang Rai, down to Nakhon Ratchasima, back up through Buriram, Udon Thani, Loei and Petchabun, I am wondering how the NGV company organises CNG in Thailand. My experience is as follows:

Chiang Mai - three stations I know of, waiting times usually 10 - 20 minutes.

Chiang Rai - two stations opening and closing at variable intervals. They supply a phone number to call to find out when they're open. Sometimes both are closed for days. About 40 minutes wait time.

Phitsanulok - two stations, one closed, the other a one hour queue.

Nakhon Ratchasima - possibly lucky, in and out in 10 minutes.

Buriram/Khon Kaen - plenty of stations due to proximity to the source of supply. No waiting.

Udon Thani - my nomination for the worst service. One hour twenty minutes wait. When I get to the pump, the attendant hooks me up, then forgets to turn the CNG on. Walks away, I have to go after him to get him back. Slow and surly service. Resist the temptation to ask for the manager to tell him/her what a crap operation he/she is running, as it would waste even more time.

Loei - in and out in 10 minutes.

Uttaradit - cheerful, smiling attendants, 5 minutes wait. A pleasure to deal with.

I have noticed the stations which have room for heavy vehicle CNG filling seem to have the longest wait times for cars.

Comments and explanations welcome. I trust the moderator will treat comments on LPG as off-topic.

The great silence?

No one has a clue?

Highly compressed gas requires special (more expensive) tank wagons, special railway tanks?

The further away from the main routes/loading stations the worse are your chances?

I remember some "declaration of intent" in the news to improve the infrastructure and promoting CNG being a national task.

Building pipelines?

Don't believe it before you see it.

The usual blabla.

Edited May 31, 201511 yr by KhunBENQ

They need more stations.To many cars

I had to make a choice about 31/2 years ago will it be CNG or LPG, after reading your post I happy that I chose LPG.

I had to make a choice about 31/2 years ago will it be CNG or LPG, after reading your post I happy that I chose LPG.

Please explain how your post contributes to the discussion. Obviously, you've chosen to ignore my request at the end of the OP.

It is the queue and availability issue that made me go for LPG instead of CNG.

I know this is not the answer to the question you asked, but the issue you highlight does reinforce my opinion that LPG was the correct choice.

LPG stations never have queues and they are everywhere.

It is easy the economics are not there are no profits at the price at the pump!
Also with shipping costs of LPG is higher than petrol so the further from the source the more loss the monopoly gets.

Simple economics and world pricing.

I can agree it's more costly to get CNG or LPG distributed due to being compressed gases rather than a liquid.

In terms of abundance at the source, CNG wins hands down. Methane and ethane, the main constituents of CNG, are far more prevalent in gas fields than propane and butane, the principal constituents of LPG.

Also easier to refine - in comparison, petrol and diesel refining processes are far more complex and expensive.

Due to the ratio of hydrogen to carbon in CNG, its environmental impact is lower. Cleaner fuel. You don't hear about CNG spills into watercourses, do you? Plenty of diesel and petrol events.

I certainly don't think CNG is unprofitable, because NGV would not be selling it if that was the case. Or they'd put the prices up.

Perhaps it's a case of individual district managers cutting service to line their own pockets. If so, they are doing themselves a disservice by driving potential customers into the arms of LPG companies.

It's a shame, because if Thailand has major reserves of natural gas, that's where they should be securing their energy future. However, short-term profit focus is not the exclusive preserve of Thais.

I had to make a choice about 31/2 years ago will it be CNG or LPG, after reading your post I happy that I chose LPG.

Please explain how your post contributes to the discussion. Obviously, you've chosen to ignore my request at the end of the OP.

I live in Buriram province and only 2 NGV stations within 40km of where I live. The wife drives a CNG car but we only fill up if we go close to the stations as it consumes to much gas on the return journey. Turn over time in Buriram anything from 5 minutes to 1hour! Worst place been to, Mukhadan, both occasions over 2 hours! Like you said previously, staff not interested or not paying attention. Also trucks seem to have priority

Please explain how your post contributes to the discussion. Obviously, you've chosen to ignore my request at the end of the OP.

Cannot explain, do not want to ignore now. So cancel my posting.

Edited June 1, 201511 yr by ALFREDO

Chiangmai actually four stations: Airport Road/Mahidol Road, The old road to Sankamphaeng, close to the junction on superhighway on the left side if you come from the city, only NGV and open 24/7, Doisaket Road anotherone, and on the highway to Lampoon the last one. What I try to do is to choose the time of the day when I go and fill up. Will make a big difference. Yes, I agree it could have been much better, but the low cost of driving makes it up a little bit :-).

Cheers

I had to make a choice about 31/2 years ago will it be CNG or LPG, after reading your post I happy that I chose LPG.

Please explain how your post contributes to the discussion. Obviously, you've chosen to ignore my request at the end of the OP.

Waiting time and lack of service stations are the only issue with the CNG. Obviously not an issue with LPG or Dessel. It’s not rocket science..

Better use petrol, instead.

CNG is sold under an agreement with the Thai authorities only at PTT stations and the price is gov't regulated. It is reported that PTT actually lose a huge amount of money on its sale. This is why PTT, dispite the demand for more staions, are in no hurry to build more pumps and perhaps why customer service seems to be a low priority.

On the other hand, LPG can be sold by any station and is more in line with supply and demand. You see many small, no-name stations selling LPG and with the competition, they work harder at customer service to keep your business.

Please explain how your post contributes to the discussion. Obviously, you've chosen to ignore my request at the end of the OP.

Cannot explain, do not want to ignore now. So cancel my posting.

We have an LPG car, sometimes it's longer than 5 minutes from entering the refilling station to leaving it. I sometimes see those long queues at CNG sites as I pass.

Please explain how your post contributes to the discussion. Obviously, you've chosen to ignore my request at the end of the OP.

Cannot explain, do not want to ignore now. So cancel my posting.

We have an LPG car, sometimes it's longer than 5 minutes from entering the refilling station to leaving it. I sometimes see those long queues at CNG sites as I pass.

I very happy I got LPG installed. If you choose CNG you have not done your homework...Hence the OP. sour grapes because he has to cue for hours to get his tank filled.

Please explain how your post contributes to the discussion. Obviously, you've chosen to ignore my request at the end of the OP.

Cannot explain, do not want to ignore now. So cancel my posting.

We have an LPG car, sometimes it's longer than 5 minutes from entering the refilling station to leaving it. I sometimes see those long queues at CNG sites as I pass.

I very happy I got LPG installed. If you choose CNG you have not done your homework...Hence the OP. sour grapes because he has to cue for hours to get his tank filled.

Your Homeworks done for You.All new cars are CNG.Whatcher Gona Do about that.

Well, what I'm certainly not going to be in a queue for an hour or more .....

All new cars are CNG

Please give a link for this info "All new Cars"

How long before we have threads from Tesla owners complaing about having to queue up at Supercharger stations, because every 'fill' takes 20 minutes?

To the OP: Based on what you said,I would describe the waiting time in Chiang Rai as "variable" rather than as "40 minutes".

This is an undeveloped country where words such as "appointment", "commitment", and signs stating hours of business mean nothing. That is a big reason why I don't drive here. At least when I have to endure a variable wait for a bus or taxi, I know that I don't have hundreds of thousands of baht sitting idle, waiting for the eventual outcome.

How long before we have threads from Tesla owners complaing about having to queue up at Supercharger stations, because every 'fill' takes 20 minutes?

Not long now please wait.

How long before we have threads from Tesla owners complaing about having to queue up at Supercharger stations, because every 'fill' takes 20 minutes?

Not long now please wait.

Could be a while considering the progress following the last lot of plans to build charging stations.