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After two hours of deliberation, the Senate voted 58 to 33 to reject the amendment.

Bangkok Senator Rosana Tositrakul said she did not support the amendment because the increase of excise taxes on petrol would increase the cost of products, causing the public to face rising cost of living. Rising oil price will also hamper economic expansion which is the government's major policy, she added.


She said even though the amendment would eventually clear "the rubber-stamp Lower House", the Senate rejected the amendment to vilify the government for its failure to tackle the problem at the root. "The government should have solved the problem by making oil companies cut their profit which is very high. But it does not have the guts to do that because politicians in the government may have conflicts of interest. They do not want to cause any adverse impact on shareholders of these oil companies who have close ties them.''