The Land Transport Association of Thailand (LTAT) are seeking a meeting with Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin to discuss transport fees, following the increase in the diesel price by one baht/litre last Saturday.

Supasak Rungjerdfa, LTAT advisor, said that the association wants to know whether the diesel price will increase again this year, by how much and how often, so that truck operators can plan to cope with the price rise(s).

He said the association expects a response from the prime minister within a week, without which members of the association will meet to discuss their next move.

Supasak said that the one baht/litre increase will raise the costs for truck operators by about 3%. The rule of thumb in the trucking business is that fuel costs must not exceed 40% of all operating costs to be able to sustain their business.

Now that the fuel cost has risen to 55%, plus a rise in labour costs, he said that tuck operators will be hard pressed to remain profitable.

There are about a million trucks in Thailand and about 70% of them are operational, said Supasak, adding that the number of operational trucks will drop to about 60% after the diesel price increase last week, which has rendered many of them unable to operate unless their transport fees are adjusted accordingly.