Bangkok: Fourteen civil society groups have called on the Anutin government to address pressing energy issues and abolish the excise tax on fuel, emphasizing that the government is the central authority controlling fuel prices. These groups submitted a letter of complaint to Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul via the Government House's complaint center, urging the implementation of urgent measures to tackle the energy crisis, including lowering fuel prices, freezing gas prices, reducing electricity costs, and controlling commodity prices.

According to Thai News Agency, representatives from the 14 civil society organizations expressed concerns about the energy crisis stemming from high oil prices, which has significantly impacted consumer goods prices, pushing them beyond the income levels of many households. The ongoing geopolitical tensions between Israel, the United States, and Iran have contributed to soaring crude oil prices, escalating the prices of goods and services, while wages and household incomes have not kept pace, resulting in insufficient income to meet basic needs.

Somyot Pruksakasemsuk, a leader of the June 24th Democracy Group, attributed the current situation to the shortcomings of Prime Minister Anutin's government. He pointed to misleading information about oil stock levels as a root cause, leading to hoarding for speculative purposes, and claimed that government insiders were behind price manipulation and hoarding in production and transportation processes. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Anutin blamed the public for panicking and subsequent hoarding. The Energy Network highlighted that refineries have increased refining costs over the past 18 days, resulting in profits of 21.6 billion baht, while domestically refined oil prices remain tied to Singaporean prices, constituting excessive profiteering.

The civil society groups demanded the government take three urgent measures:

1. Abolish the excise tax on oil, reduce oil refining margins, and freeze the price of LPG cooking gas. High household fuel prices are attributed to double taxes, including VAT, the oil fund tax, and others. Eliminating the excise tax could reduce fuel prices by 7 baht per liter, and reducing refining margins from 6 baht per liter to 2 baht per liter could further decrease fuel costs by 11 baht per liter. Additionally, they urged the freezing of LPG cooking gas prices for households for one year.

2. Reduce the electricity rate from 4.18 baht per unit to 3 baht per unit, as promised by coalition government political parties during their election campaigns.

3. Implement measures to control consumer goods prices, including essential items, prevent price gouging, ensure affordable products are available in all communities, and provide fuel coupons to riders who deliver food and passengers.

During the event, representatives from the 14 organizations took turns speaking about the problems in their respective sectors. They read a statement and held signs with messages like "Abolish excise tax" and "Prime Minister Anutin, stop blaming the people and show your competence in resolving the energy crisis urgently."

In a symbolic theatrical performance simulating a gas station scenario, a customer attempting to fill up their tank found the diesel fuel sold out, causing the gas station attendant to express stress, shouting, "I'm too rich to handle this!"

Following the submission of the petition, the representatives plan to meet with the Government Complaints Center at the Office of the Civil Service Commission in the afternoon.