Drivers pounce on cut-price fuel

Drivers pounce on cut-price fuel

MOTORISTS THRONG FILLING STATIONS AS PUMP PRICES SLASHED BY UP TO 8 BAHT PER LITRE

Petrol stations were packed with motorists queuing to buy cheap petrol yesterday as the new pump prices, which have been cut by three to eight baht per litre, started.

FILL HER UP: A staff member of a PTT petrol station on Phetkasem Road refuels a car yesterday after cuts in pump prices for 95 and 91 octane petrol took effect.

Consumers welcomed the measure, saying it would help ease the rising cost of living but cautioned they were worried it would only be short-lived.
Others urged the government to also consider cutting the gasohol price as a sharp drop in 91 and 95 octane petrol prices had resulted in motorists switching from green alternative fuels to premium petrol.
Worawit Chotiwannaporn, a 35-year-old businessman, said he normally uses gasohol but as 91 petrol had dropped to almost the same price as gasohol, he had decided to switch.
"The government should consider cutting the gasohol price too because the fuel is more environmentally friendly," he said yesterday.
Mr Worawit said he supported the Yingluck Shinawatra government's oil price cut measure. However, he was concerned it could spoil the energy-saving and alternative energy promotion efforts of previous governments.
The National Energy Policy Committee, chaired by Prime Minister Yingluck, on Friday approved the reduction of contributions by refineries to the State Oil Fund by three baht a litre for diesel, 7.17 baht for 91 octane petrol and 8.02 baht for 95 octane petrol.
This drove down the pump prices of the fuels to 26.99 baht/litre for diesel, 34.77 for 91 petrol and 39.54 for 95 petrol.
Staff at a petrol station on Bangkok's Sukhumvit Soi 105 said the number of customers doubled yesterday, with other operators across the city and nationwide reporting similar increases.
Chuang Sukka, a coffee vendor who drove a diesel pick-up truck, lauded the measure, saying it would help ease the financial burden on low-income earners.
However, he did not think cheaper petrol would lower the price of other consumer goods as the government's plan to increase the minimum wage could lead to rising production costs.
Taxi-driver Piamseree Sansukborkhum, 49, said he and his colleagues weren't benefiting from the price cut as most of them used natural gas.
He said the price of LGP and NGV should also be slashed to help taxi drivers, adding that Ms Yingluck should come up with other measures to tackle increasing living costs.
A motorcycle taxi-driver who gave his nickname as Meng said the cuts were proof that the Pheu Thai-led government was serious about helping grassroots people, as motorcycles were a large percentage of premium petrol consumers.
Fares for public transport are expected to drop following the oil price cut, but operators of natural gas-fuelled vehicles, such as private buses operating in Bangkok, insisted they would not lower their fares.
Saen Sab boat operators yesterday announced a one-baht reduction for boat fares for every trip section. Chao Phraya ferries also cut ticket prices by 50 satang at some piers.
However, the Chao Phraya Express boat operators and inter-provincial bus operators have not yet lowered their fares, saying further discussion was needed.
Suchinda Cherdchai, president of the Association of Inter-provincial Bus Operators, said the association had no plans to reduce fares.
"We won't reduce fares because we have shouldered rising oil prices for a long time," she said.
"The Transport Ministry did not allow us to raise fares even though the oil price kept rising in recent years."
Energy Minister Pichai Naripthaphan yesterday said the government would compensate petrol stations for losses incurred from the pump price slash.
Officials had been sent to 18,000 petrol stations nationwide to check the amount of petrol stocks before the new prices became effective, Mr Pichai said, adding that the government had set aside about 3 billion baht to compensate pump operators.
Viraphol Jirapraditkul, director general of the Department of Energy Business, yesterday said the agency was discussing means to slash the gasohol price.
Two potential measures include reducing excise tax for gasohol or increasing the subsidy for gasohol by using the money from the Oil Fund.
However, the latter could cause negative impact on the fund, which already lost 6.16 billion baht in monthly income from the petrol price cut measure.