Speaking at the Open House with Economic Ministers seminar, Piyasvasti said that through independent regulators, the government would ensure the transparency at all levels of business dealings. "I believe in competition and market forces. In a level competition with equal players. As a result of an equal competition devoid of favouritism, fair prices will ensue. This is crucial for the economy," said the Energy Minister.

Regulators - independent from the government and its policies - will be set up.

Priority would be given to the implementation of sustainable development in energy consumption, said Piyasvasti.

He said that the government had planned to establish preparatory framework for natural gas operators. To strengthen the energy industry and maintain steady natural gas supplies, an independent regulator's committee should be set up. "I hope this to be done in 12 months," he said.

Energy Minister also noted that the government had plans to diversify energy sources by increasing the capacity of existing power plants.

The government would also promote the petroleum concessions to encourage private sector to operate in marginal fields.

Besides, the government also aimed to purchase natural gas from neighbouring countries. He said that the Thai government had planned to sign an agreement to purchase 3,000 to 5,000 megawatts from Laos later this year.

"5,000 megawatt is feasible. We are looking at the project, which is in the pipeline. The agreement to acquire more power from Laos would enable Thailand to accommodate many new projects," he said. The new power purchase agreement should be inked during the opening of the new Thai-Laos Bridge by the prime ministers of both countries.

He said that the government would also review energy saving policy to scrap the inefficient measures such as the regulation to close the petrol station after 10 PM. Such measure did not help much in reducing energy consumption, he said.

He said that the government would aim at real and not "public relations" energy saving measures.

He said that the use of gasohol should be promoted because they use agricultural by products and at the same time price should be fair for consumers to create competitiveness.

The government has already liberalised the production of ethanol in the next 12 months. By then, the pressure on the supply of ethanol should be eased.

"Since the world price of ethanol has been stabilised, certain cars can now shift to ethanol. Option has to be provided until all manufactures to ensure that all cars can use ethanol. Besides, the government should assist the operators by providing tax incentives…So the retail price of gasohol will be lower than 95 octane"

He said the government would try to ensure free and fair competition of energy system to allow the market to operate. "We have seen that the interference in oil price in the past four years which distorted the market, damaging the industry and oil structure. At one time, he said the oil fund incurred debt of Bt80 billion as a result of oil subsidy policy. However, the problem has been solved now".

During a question and answer session, he was asked about the environmental problems brought by coal power plant, Piyasvasti said that it was developed nations who were the major polluters, particularly the US, citing the movie "An Inconvenient Truth" narrated by former US vice president Al Gore. The energy minister said that the government would do what they could within their power and capacity to decrease Carbon-dioxide emission.

Jeerawat Na Thalang and Ki Nan Tsui

The Nation