New govt to tackle energy bills promptly
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin pledged to reduce energy prices once his administration starts work.
“The cabinet will cut energy prices soon after it gets down to work. People will not have long to wait after our first meeting,” Mr Srettha said.
The caretaker cabinet of outgoing prime minister Prayut Chan-o-cha had its last meeting on Tuesday and Mr Srettha’s new cabinet still has to be formally announced and sworn into office before his Majesty the King.
The swearing-in of the ministers in the presence of His Majesty the King is required by the constitution. After they are sworn in, the government will have to declare a policy statement in parliament before it can start work.
Mr Srettha was speaking after a meeting with outgoing energy minister Supattanapong Punmeechaow and the economic team of the United Thai Nation Party (UTN) in parliament yesterday.
Mr Supattanapong, a UTN list MP — which has 36 House seats and is part of the new coalition government — said they discussed what the Energy Ministry will do and how the new energy minister will address the issues related to energy prices.
The household electricity tariff is currently 4.7 baht per kilowatt-hour (unit), and that rate is set to end today.
The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) has been subsidising the cost since September 2021. The subsidy is estimated to have caused an accumulated loss of 135 billion baht for the state enterprise.
According to Egat, 60% of its power generation is fuelled by gas, 15% by coal and 15% by renewables.
The rest is imported from Laos or Malaysia. Prices of imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) and coal dropped recently.
Responding to criticism that some of his picks are not fit for cabinet posts, Mr Srettha said feedback is welcome.
“The government has a lot of work to do and many goals to achieve. [Cabinet ministers] will be assessed by how well they perform and everyone must get to work straight away,” Mr Srettha said.
Pichit Chuenban, a former lawyer of ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra, faces howls of disapproval as he is tipped to become a cabinet minister despite having served jail time for contempt of court for attempted bribery when he represented Thaksin in a controversial land case in 2008.
On June 25, 2008, the Supreme Court sentenced Mr Pichit and two of his colleagues to six months each in jail after they tried to bribe Supreme Court officials by handing them a paper bag containing two million baht in cash a fortnight earlier.
Mr Pichit is tipped to serve as the PM’s Office Minister under the Pheu Thai-led coalition government, according to sources. All three represented Thaksin and his ex-wife, Khunying Potjaman na Pombejra, in the Ratchadaphisek land case, for which Thaksin was sentenced to two years in prison in 2008.
Thaksin, who has long been considered Pheu Thai’s de-facto leader, returned to Thailand last week after living in self-imposed exile for over 15 years.
Mr Srettha also brushed aside criticism that deputy Pheu Thai leader Sutin Klungsang, who is tipped to serve as defence minister, is a civilian and not suited for the role.
He said Mr Sutin is an experienced politician and should work with the military well.
Somchai Srisutthiyakorn, a former election commissioner, said Mr Pichit is not qualified to hold a cabinet post, citing Section 160 (7) of the constitution.
He said the section bars a convict sentenced to jail from serving as a cabinet minister — regardless of whether the convict was found guilty of criminal charges or not.
Mr Somchai said Mr Srettha should take this opportunity to carefully select a cabinet to win public confidence in the government’s efforts to address the country’s problems.