Thailand’s retail subsidies for diesel and LPG are coming under increased pressure and should be scrapped, the director of the country’s Energy Fund Administration Institute said last week. The subsidies as they currently stand are a “time bomb if you keep them going,” said Chainoi Puenkosum, who heads EFAI, an “independent public organization” under the Energy Ministry that manages the receipts and payments of the country’s Oil Fund, from which the subsidies are paid. Subsidies are costing the country Baht 165 million/day ($5 million/day) at current levels, according to the EFAI. The subsidies keep diesel pump prices under Baht 30/liter, well below international prices, and LPG at staggered rates that are as low as one-third of international prices. The price of LPG for cooking is fixed at Baht 19/kg and accounts for 32% of consumption, and at Baht 21/kg for automobiles that consume 24% […]