Cabs stand still as LPG runs short

About one fifth of Bangkok’s taxis had to stay idle Monday after many service stations ran out of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

“There’s nothing to fill these taxis’ tanks,” Siam Taxi Cooperative 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.

Speaking to a traffic radio station, a taxi driver lamented yesterday that his cab was running out of the 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 directorgeneral Yanyong Phuangrach said his department was conducting surprise inspections of service stations to prevent hoarding.

Yanyong 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.

Sphere: Related Content

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!