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“Piraphan Saliratwiphak” quelled rumors, insisted on keeping the electricity price fixed at 4.18 baht per kilowatt-hour for another four months, tried to keep the diesel price at 33 baht per liter, reiterated that the draft energy restructuring law has been completed and is awaiting review, and suggested that the prime minister contact parliament immediately.
On July 19, 2024, at the Government House, Mr. Peeraphan Salirathaviphak, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy was interviewed to quell rumors that the government will increase electricity prices, saying that he went to Saudi Arabia for a meeting with the Ministry of Energy last week, so he was not present to explain the facts. It may cause confusion but this is normal every time the electricity tariff is adjusted. There is always negative news first. So this is the problem. The Chairman of the Energy Regulatory Commission or the Energy Regulatory Commission and the Ministry of Energy government must consult together every time.
This time, when he came back, although the guidelines were given, there was no meeting to discuss today due to his absence, so we asked the chairman of the committee. The Energy Regulatory Commission, the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand and PTT. We discussed and decided together to freeze the electricity price at 4.18 baht per kWh as usual for the next period of time. We would like to thank the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand for being able to manage the internal organization of the organization to help us. We must thank the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand and PTT for not accepting any compensation. Deduction from the electricity bill during this period to help people.
We ask people to understand the cost of electricity and various types of gas. This is not just the responsibility of the Ministry of Energy. But it is trying to coordinate with all the relevant agencies, such as the Electricity Generating Authority, which must hand over money to the state treasury as required, but keep the original price when reducing electricity prices. This means lower revenue. But the money still has to be sent to the state treasury as usual. This is also a problem that must be solved. The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand not only helped to bear the burden of a single agency. But other parts did not provide any help at all. So he believes this is a problem that needs to be improved.
As for the price of oil, the Ministry of Energy is trying to maintain the original price. But as mentioned before, the Fuel Energy Fund, which has long been used as the main mechanism for the people to take care of the oil price, is becoming more and more a debt burden, especially under the newly promulgated standards. This has led to the disappearance of some of the powers of the Oil Fund. It is the power to set the tax ceiling. The fuel price that citizens pay at the gas station is composed of two parts: the first part is the actual fuel price. The other part is part of the government department, which is taxes. Therefore, the price of oil can be reduced. Not only oil but taxes must also be reduced. Originally, the power to set the consumption tax ceiling was the power of the Oil Fund. But currently it has been cut off and it is a burden to use the money from the fund alone. So, this law must be improved and they are studying this issue.
“So in this part, the Ministry of Energy will take action as soon as possible to try to keep the price of diesel in this group at about 33 baht per liter, which will require help from other agencies as before, but it depends on the cooperation of all parties. For the Ministry of Energy, we will do our best.”
Mr. Piraphin stressed that rumors always appear, for whatever reason, they try to create negative news. Shock the public or misunderstand in advance, every time the media should help to understand, instead of waiting for them to get the news before spreading the news, so that the people panic. Finally, this is not the last time, it has already happened once. To 4.58 baht per unit, it is not true, but it has been written, and it happened again this time.
As for how long it will last, Mr. Peeraphan said that the electricity price will be adjusted every 4 months based on the FT value, which is the average of the average gas cost in each 4 months. It is going down. As for the debt of the oil fund, it is not just the responsibility of the Ministry of Energy, the whole government has to think about how to help each other.
In addition, Mr. Peeraphan also explained that because people have been asking themselves why diesel prices in Malaysia are so much cheaper than in Thailand, it is because the Malaysian government uses budget funds to help take care of it, like the oil fund of nearly 400 billion baht per year, do we have it? Ultimately, the practice of using currency to support prices like today will not last long. At present, Malaysia can no longer go any further. And the cancellation caused the price to rise by more than 10 baht at once, and now the price per liter is almost 30 baht, which is not much different from ours. Malaysia has its own oil fields, but we don’t. Therefore, his oil revenue is more than Thailand. So he has enough money to help his people. At the same time, I can’t go anymore today. Therefore, he said that using money to help take care of yourself is ultimately impossible, and a new model must be thought of.
The purpose of drafting this law is “Cancel, reduce, liberalize, and create an energy price system” Mr. Peeraphan from Thailand confirmed that he has finished drafting the above law and is currently reviewing it for correctness. He will have the working group look at it again and it is almost done. He will also discuss it with the Prime Minister because it is at the ministerial level before making a recommendation to the next Council.
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