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Vehicles crowd a gas station for LPG on Srinakharin Road. Below: a station in Phitsanulok displays a ‘LPG sold out’ sign.
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OUT OF GAS
Daily Xpress
Published on July 1, 2008
Frustrated taxi drivers are forced to sit idle as stations run out of precious LPG
About one-fifth of Bangkok's taxis had to stay idle yesterday after many service stations ran out of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). "There's nothing to fill these taxis' tanks," Siam Taxi Coop-erative president Witoon Naewpanich said. Taxi drivers complained that the sudden shortage had hit them at a time when they usually got more passengers than usual because of the payday period.
Drivers to meet minister Speaking to a traffic radio station, a taxi driver lamented yesterday that his cab was running out of LPG. "Please help me find a station that sells LPG. Paying for expensive LPG is better than not having LPG to fill up my cab," he said. Witoon said his group would meet with Energy Minister Poonpirom Liptapanlop this afternoon to voice their concern. "Now, it's LPG. Soon it could be NGV," he said. It is widely speculated that some vendors have been hoarding LPG to profit from the expected price hike once the Energy Ministry floats the price. "Some people say a litre of LPG will rise by just Bt1 or Bt2. But others say the price may rise by up to Bt10," Witoon said. Internal Trade Department director-general Yangyong Phuangrach said his department was conducting surprise inspections of service stations to prevent hoarding. Yangyong also urged people to report unfair practices on the 1569 hotline. LPG is a controlled product and sellers are required by law to display the price at their place of business. Failure to do so is punishable by a fine of up to Bt10,000. The penalty for hoarding is up to seven years in jail and/or a maximum fine of Bt140,000. Energy Ministry permanent secretary Pornchai Rujiprapha said authorities had yet to decide when the LPG price would rise "We have to ensure that everything, especially the NGV service, is ready first," he said. However, Pornchai believed the National Energy Policy Board would convene a meeting to discuss the price adjustment by the end of this month. He said LPG was not available in some areas because an evacuation drill affected the transportation of 2,000 tonnes of LPG into a port.
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