PTT transfer panel
Seven members of an energy regulatory committee have been appointed in a bid to diffuse criticism of PTT's monopolistic powers regarding petroleum exploration and production, natural-gas pipelines and land expropriation.
It will be chaired by Energy Ministry permanent secretary Pornchai Rujiprapha. The other members are Interior Ministry deputy permanent secretary Sarote Katchamat, Council of State member Jaruwan Hengtrakul, former Supreme Court president Sophon Ratanakorn, former deputy permanent secretary for foreign affairs Chalermphol Ek-uru, Chulalongkorn University lecturer Manop Bongsadadt and Energy Policy Planning Office director-general Viraphol Jirapraditkul. "The committee will take over the rights from PTT until the Energy Act is promulgated and an energy regulatory board established under the law," said Energy Minister Piyasvasti Amranand. The power transfer is aimed at creating a level playing field and ensuring a proper exercise of power, he added. The committee was formed following a consumer group's petition to the Supreme Administrative Court saying that even though PTT has been privatised, it still maintains all of the powers granted only to state enterprises. The main issue in the petition concerns rights over natural-gas pipelines and private properties. As a private company, PTT should be stripped of the rights, the group said. It also said that as PTT was the sole operator of natural-gas pipelines, it could quote gas prices as it saw fit, which was unfair to consumers.
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