Thai Liberal Party promises to nationalise PTT, cut down energy prices
The Thai Liberal Party promises to reform Thailand’s energy industry if it wins the general election, which is tentatively scheduled to be held on May 7.
Deputy party leader Napaporn Petchinda said on Saturday that one of the first steps will be turning PTT into a non-profit state enterprise, as fuel is the main reason for the rising cost of living.
She said PTT’s focus at present is generating profits for its shareholders, but “if we take it back, our natural resources will be returned to us”.
She added that the price of refined oil can also be cut because it is bloated with a variety of taxes.
Napaporn pointed out that most of Thailand’s natural resources are in the hands of private local and foreign firms.
“We can launch specific laws to regulate PTT for the benefit of the people,” she said.
She added that her party’s policy will be to use the profit earned from selling fuel to offer more welfare benefits via platforms like the state welfare card.
Napaporn said the aim will be to shift Thailand from determining its oil price based on Singapore’s import prices. Also, she said, if her party is in the government, it will suspend mixing ethanol to fossil fuel when the price of ethanol is higher.
As for electricity, she said energy prices in Thailand have been set far too high, with no attention paid to the impact it has on people.
“If we can set up the government, we will check contracts and costs related to electricity,” she said, adding that the party will take legal action and cancel concessions if there is any sign of corruption.
The party also plans to merge the state’s four electricity agencies to boost efficiency.
The four agencies are the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat), the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA), the Metropolitan Electricity Authority (MEA) and Global Power Synergy (GPSC).
"If GPSC and Egat are merged, we will have the world’s top non-profit electricity producer,” she said.
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