Gasoline : another subsidy, thanks to a cut of the Oil Fund’s contribution

Exactly as I predicted… retails prices of gasoline have to increase. So to neutralize the effect, the government has decided once again to cut the contribution to the Oil Fund (read here and here).

“Fuel tariffs paid to the State Oil Fund will be cut by 2 by 20 satang per litre today for diesel and bio-diesel“.

Another great proof of political courage.

Meanwhile, PPT, the public oil company, still enjoys loosing money.

” The cut in diesel and bio-diesel tariffs led PTT Plc, the state-controlled energy giant, to scrap its plan to increase pump prices by 40 satang per litre today.

Vitaya Wangchitaruck, a PTT senior executive vice-president, said retail prices would be kept unchanged to help buffer the impact of soaring global oil prices on consumers.

”We will continue to maintain our prices and narrow margins to help the public during such a hard period,” Mr Vitaya said. “(Bangkok Post)

UPDATE 28 NOVEMBER

No more, sure !

“Energy Minister Piyasvasti Amranand on Wednesday reiterated that the ministry will make no further reductions in collecting the oil surcharge for the State Oil Fund, despite likely increasing fuel prices.

His reiteration of previously stated policy came after the ministry cut the surcharge by another 0.20 baht per litre on Wednesday in an effort to curb the local oil price hike.

Mr. Piyavasti said the ministry had no plan to further reduce the oil surcharge because it did not want the Oil Fund’s debt repayment scheme to be negatively affected.  “

Pay back time : Don Muang tollway increases price

It was the typical subsidy logic (like gasoline), prior to elections, for easy political gains, and future financial burden : the Don Muang tollway.

December 2004 (read here), just before the general elections, Prime Minister Thaksin ordered to reduce the fee on the Don Muang tollway (going from Bangkok to the airport of Don Muang, and then to Rangsit further north), from 55 to 30 THB. A small gift…

In exchange if I may say, the company was offered an extension of its concession.

Now the party is over : Don Muang Tollway executive Sombat Phanichewa yesterday said the company had decided to reinstate the rate immediately after the agreement with the government for a reduced fee of Bt30 ended. “The company has suffered with a continually reduced profit and has not been able to solve its accumulated losses,” Sombat said. (Nation)

On december 21, the price will be back to 55 THB.

Elections : the poll conducted by the police… was real

Another very pathetic lie from the government. Well actually, 2 lies.

A poll, conducted by the police, was published by the medias. Very embarrassing, because it forecasts a victory of… the PPP.

First reaction :

Prime Minister’s Office Minister Thirapat Serirangsan said he doubted the authenticity of an election poll claimed to have been conducted by the Royal Thai Police Special Branch which showed the pro-Thaksin People Power party will win more than 200 of the 480 parliamentary seats in the Dec 23 general election.

He added he believes this controversial poll is part of an election plot. He did not explain, except to say it is possible the poll will sway voters’ decisions in the election. (Bangkok Post)

Second reaction
And then, a few hours later, confirmation that the denial was a lie. With… another lie.

National Police Force spokesman Maj-Gen Pongsapat Pongcharoen has clarified queries about a poll conducted by the Special Branch police which came under heavy criticism after it was leaked to the media.

“The information was a fact-finding process purely to gauge the election climate in general and is not aimed at determining who may win the election, ” said Maj-Gen Pongsapat.

“The Special Branch Police has no plans to conduct an election poll since it would be a violation of the Election Commission’s regulations,” said Maj-Gen Pongsapat. (Bangkok Post)

Of course, the denial of the denial contains just… another lie. The police says that it was not an opinon poll (that would be a violaton of the elections law), but a “fact finding process” !
Now, that’s really academic. It should be taught in the university.

Just another normal day of the campaign for the elections in Thailand…

FBA, Retail Act : at last, European Union is “concerned”

“European Commission (EC) director-general for trade Philippe Meyer said last weekend in Bangkok that the EU was watching developments here with mounting concern.He said the legislation amounted to an attempt by Bangkok to restrict foreign companies doing business here.

“We used to think the foreign-business law might affect 1,000-2,000 companies. But now it appears it might affect even more,” Meyer said.

Meyer criticised the lack of transparency in the legal process here. He said outsiders were unable to see the wording of legislation or receive information about the directing in which laws were headed.

“We don’t get the legal text [of laws] on time or know how it will look like. We don’t know, either, how it will evolve,” he said.”

Meyer said the act lacks predictability – something businesses do not like – and adequate consultation with the foreign business communities as well as transparency. The wording of the law is changing all the time, too, he said.

Of the retail-business law, Meyer said it was difficult for outsiders to obtain access to the text in a timely fashion and that companies were not sure how to manage their business. (Nation)

I’ve got only one comment : at last !

(to follow the news regarding the Foreign Business Act, click here)

Cash cow : Military send a list of 300 billions THB to Santa Claus

It’s Christmas and pocket money times !

“Thailand’s defence ministry said Monday it will seek 300 billion baht from the next government to buy 10 more fighter jets, a submarine and other weaponry.

The military has already ordered 12 Swedish-made JAS-39 Gripen fighters at a cost of 34.4 billion baht (one billion US dollars).” (AFP)

This wishes list is coming after huge increases of military budget over the last 2 fiscal years (read here).

But weapons for… what purposes exactly ? Here our fearless Arch-Strategos opens his heart :

“In response to changing circumstances we are facing, including the southern insurgency and the rising threat of terrorism in the world, Thailand needs greater capabilities to defend our country,” Pichasanu said.

“For example, some of our neighbours already have a submarine. We need to make a decision now so that one will be available to us in the next five to 10 years,” he told AFP.

In addition to a submarine, the plan also calls for 10 more fighter jets over a decade starting from 2009, he added. “

He looks like a naughty child : “mummy, he has a submarine… I want one too !”

And what about the “neighbours” ? Does he think about… Laos… Cambodia ? Or maybe Burma ?

Thailand is already ridiculous with its… aircraft carrier.

It will continue to entertain the world with its… submarine.

Elections, vote buying : the smoking gun ?

The Election Commission has evidence a political party has been buying votes in a North province using money orders.More than 200 voters have received money, an Election Commission member said Sunday.

Each voter received between Bt1,000 and Bt2,000 and nearly 200 voters had withdrawn money from post offices, he said.

He said documentary evidence was clear but the commission was waiting for witnesses to identify candidates who bought votes.

Sumet said when witnesses were found legal action would be instigated. Parties can be dissolved if found guilty.

“We plan to handle this case before election day to show that the commission is serious about enforcing the law,” Sumet said. (Nation)

The EC and the government are speaking a lot since a few weeks about the issue of vote buying… It’s true that it’s an endemic problem in Thailand, a tradition.

Will they use this to try to curb a probable electoral victory of the PPP ? The dissolution of the PPP would be a great risk…

Flag Bill : stop your car when you hear the national anthem

With the elections in less than a month… the military appointed NLA is rushing to vote new laws, and scrutinize new drafts… Even the weirdest ones.

One of these, sponsored of course by a bunch of old generals, is called the Flag Bill.

The bill’s supporters say road traffic should stop nationwide when the anthem is played [at 8 AM and 6 PM] during the raising and lowering of the flag “to preserve tradition and instill patriotism in Thais”.

“The national anthem lasts only one minute and eight seconds, so why can’t motorists stop their cars for the sake of the country?,” retired General and NLA member Pricha Rochanasena, 70, told Reuters.

“They already spend more time in traffic jams anyway,” he said, referring to Bangkok’s notoriously congested streets. (Reuters)

I believe there is no need to comment further.

Elections, Democrats : “Populist, me ? Naah of course not”

“In what way are these populist policies?,” dared to ask the leader of Democrat Party (Bangkok Post)…

Abhisit has been a student in the UK. With his nice haircut and his white smile… What a contrast with Samak, the “populist” leader of PPP, right ?

But actually, Abhisit has exactly the same profil than his good old godfathers in politics : short sighted, playing with words, cynical, with poor ethics, obsessed with power. And of course, a liar.

Last week, his party launched the “‘99-day urgent, practical operations plan” (Bangkok Post). The new version of the “cent jours” of Napoleon. The thai version of the Blitzkrieg.

In 99 days, if they are elected, they vowed to :

-students in the upcoming May 2008 semester would go to school free of charge, with free uniforms and study materials.

-cancel motorists’ contribution to the State Oil Fund, resulting in gasohol and diesel price reductions.

-boost the incentive for each small power consumer from five to 15 units per kilowatt/hour of free electricity use.

-to inject in each tambon a budget of one to two million baht for career development.

So Mister Abhisit, you might need to go back in England, in order to learn the meaning of “populist policies“.

Instant noodles : increase of prices on january 1

After weeks of talking (read here)… The Mama Soup Drama is coming back.

Increases of prices for many brands of instant noodles soups were authorized by the government.

Companies on September 19 submitted requests for price hikes on 588 items in 14 categories, including tyres, batteries, chemical fertilisers, canned fish, vegetable oil, detergents, dishwashing liquids and dairy products.

The Internal Trade Department had successfully convinced them to delay price adjustments as long as possible. But on Thursday, it let Thai President Foods jack up the Mama price by Bt1 to Bt6 a pack on January 1.

Ajinomoto (Thailand) and Thai Preserved Food Factory, the makers of Yum Yum and Wai Wai, received their approvals yesterday, conditioned on all manufacturers promising to hold off any further increases for five years. (Nation)

The “promising to hold off any further increase of five years” is really… tasty. If it’s true, it would be another proof of the total incompetence (and/or political cynism) of thai authorities…

As for the other products… well the pressure is huge. Since september, and the first requests, the costs went up again and especially oil.

It’s more and more difficult for the government to block those hikes… It shows that we will have an strong increase of CPI in official figures in 2008, despite the denials.

King’s health : visit at hospital and first official audience

“The heads of delegations to the 9th Congress of the International Association of Supreme Administrative Jurisdictions (IASAJ) being held in Bangkok were granted an audience friday at 4.30 with the King to pay their respects.

His Majesty earlier visited Her Royal Highness Princess Galyani Vadhana at Siriraj Hospital (Nation)

The King went to the hospital tuesday night to visit his sister. He left wednesday morning, and came back again in the evening.

Gasoline prices : up again, and more hikes to come

Another 40 satangs per liter… And this time, no reduction of the contribution to the Oil Fund (read here).

“New pump rates at PTT service stations are premium at 32.89 baht a litre, regular at 31.59 baht, 95 gasohol 28.89 baht, 91 gasohol 28.09 baht, high speed diesel 29.34 baht and B5 (biodiesel 5%) 28.34 baht per litre”

The state oil company PTT seems to enjoy loosing money… After every hike, they continue to cry about their margin (on oil) plus their margin on refined products…

“The increase in the global oil price had resulted in an average loss of two baht on every litre of oil sold. In a normal situation, oil traders should have an average marketing margin of 1.5 baht per litre“, said a VP of PTT…

So how long the “abnormal” situation can continue ? Until the elections ?

It means… even if oil prices remain stable on the world market, gasoline prices are likely to increase again in Thailand.