Cooking gas tanks being checked to ensure vendors are not being cheated

Inspectors from the Department of Internal Trade (DIT) under the Ministry of Commerce have been conducting random inspections of outlets selling LPG cooking gas and cooking gas filling facilities, to ensure they are not cheating customers by selling less gas than the tanks’ stated capacity.

The inspectors visited several outlets Nonthaburi and discovered that the amount of cooking gas with which some tanks were charged did not match with the amount shown on the tags.

Yanee Srimanee, deputy director general of the DIT, said today that the negative discrepancy between the amount shown on the tag and that actually put into the tanks is an exploitation of consumers. This is a violation of the Weighing Act and subject to a maximum fine of 20,000 baht on conviction.

She said that similar violations have been reported in several provinces, including Ayutthaya, Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani, Chachoengsao and Satun, adding that a number of outlets have been fined 10,000 baht each.

She also said that random inspections will continue and that gas filling plants and distribution outlets have been warned to check the quantity of the gas in tanks before being distributed or sold.

Meanwhile, the Central Committee on the Prices of Goods and Services has agreed to add seasoning sauce, plastic pellets and bottled drinking water to the list of controlled goods for one year.

Under the announcement, signed by Commerce Minister Suphajee Suthumpun, producers, importers and distributers of plastic pellets and their customers are now required to report details of the plastic pellets produced, sold or imported and their inventories to the DIT once a week.

The plastics covered include PE, PP and PET pellets, which are used in the production of plastic bottles, bags, packaging and canteens.

Moreover, the department is also closely monitoring young coconuts, soybean starch and sea bass after it was discovered that coconut juice has been diluted with water by some unscrupulous traders, resulting in China cutting back on imports of coconut juice from Thailand.