PM slams fuel smuggling to Cambodia as security threat

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul lashed out today at Thai businessmen allegedly involved in smuggling fuel into Cambodia, branding it a threat to national security.

He told the media that authorities have been investigating the case, in which some companies are implicated, adding that he expects to receive an updated report on the smuggling racket from Justice Minister Pol Lt-Gen Rutthapon Naowarat later this afternoon.

He said he does not yet have full details on the actual quantity of fuel being smuggled, noting that it is transported through various channels and that officials are in the process of compiling the figures.

Thailand banned fuel exports to Cambodia in July last year, when the two countries were engaged in fierce armed conflict.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas convened the first meeting today of an ad hoc committee set up to study the country’s long-standing oil pricing structure, which has come under widespread criticism for favouring oil refineries at the expense of consumers.

It is reported that the committee will examine the elements used to determine oil refining, marketing and transportation costs, and will submit its findings to the Cabinet for consideration.

A source said that one committee member, Professor Praipol Koomsup, former dean of the Faculty of Economics at Thammasat University, will propose a new pricing mechanism to set base and ceiling costs for refining, marketing and transportation.

Refining costs, for instance, have recently doubled, even though the crude oil used comes from stocks delivered to depots prior to restrictions being imposed on the vital Strait of Hormuz.