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In addition, to support the government's attempts to relieve the rising financial burden on consumers, he said the ministry would soon introduce additional strategies to help people.

"The ministry might have to allow the price of unessential products to rise. Retail prices of all products have been frozen since the previous government was in office. The ministry must have a flexible price-control policy to ensure manufacturers do not suffer unduly from rising production costs due to the surge in oil prices," Mingkwan said.

Asked what he regarded as unnecessary products for healthy living, Mingkwan said the ministry was still studying which products are essential and which are not. For instance, soft drinks are unlikely to be regarded as essential, whereas products on which the ministry will continue to control prices include fertilisers, rice, cooking oil, steel and cement.

Meanwhile, in an attempt to protect consumers during the Buddhist Lent festival, the Internal Trade Department will inspect merit-making gift sets to ensure that people are buying quality goods at fair prices.

The move came after the Commerce Ministry received a number of complaints from people who said they had bought shoddy gift sets from retailers.

Yangyong Phuangrach, director-general of the Internal Trade Department, said the department had changed its inspection procedures from checking goods at retailers to inspecting wholesalers in order to identify poor-quality products before they are supplied to retailers.

"The ministry will impose the penalties on dishonest wholesalers found to be selling low-quality goods to cheat buyers and monks who receive the merit-making gift sets," he said.

Under the Price and Service Act, unscrupulous traders can be sentenced to seven years in prison and/or a Bt140,000 fine.

According to a ministry survey of small retailers and supermarkets, it found merit-making gift sets included many low-quality items such as shoddy monk's robes, expired canned food and rice smelling as though it had been mixed with detergent.