Chor Panika criticizes Prime Minister Anutin's statement for avoiding the issue of oil smuggling abroad, instead telling the public to stop panicking, stop hoarding, and conserve fuel, while pointing out that high electricity costs will be the next time bomb faced.
At 13:34 on 28 Mar 2026 GMT+7, Chor Panika Vanich, Executive Committee member of the Progressive Movement, posted a message viaFacebook,following a press conference by Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, at the Meet the Press event titled “One Month of Global Crisis: Thailand’s Response Plan in a Changed World,” saying she saw Deputy Prime Minister Pipat Ratchakitprakarn on the Workers News program and today Prime Minister Anutin stated consistently that the public should stop panicking and stop hoarding fuel because originally, diesel consumption in Thailand was 67 million liters per day but has now risen to 85 million liters per day. If consumption returns to 67 million liters per day, the crisis can be overcome, the government will not have to spend excessive subsidies on fuel prices, and funds will remain to support the people.
Chor Panika further questioned how they can be sure that the increase from 67 to 85 million liters per day is caused by public hoarding, or as Deputy Prime Minister Pipat called it, “don’t underestimate the power of an ant army.” She said we are being misled to overlook hoarding by major players and, importantly, the smuggling of oil for sale to neighboring countries, since even though domestic oil prices have risen nearly 10 baht, they remain 10-20 baht cheaper than neighboring countries, creating huge profit opportunities.
She asked whether urging the public to stop panicking, stop hoarding, and conserve energy is an attempt to avoid addressing the problem of smuggling oil abroad and hoarding for profit by powerful interests. Deputy Prime Minister Pipat admitted that there has been no real-time GPS tracking of oil transport trucks despite the capability, so it is unknown whether hoarding or smuggling is occurring. In fact, the government knows well that oil shortages exist because price subsidies make domestic oil much cheaper than neighboring countries, causing continuous leakage across borders. This prompted a rapid price increase that has hurt Thai people nationwide. Yet today, the Prime Minister’s lengthy statement avoids addressing this issue frankly.
“Crisis management must start with telling the truth, providing clear information, building public confidence, and solving the problem at its root. Telling people to stop hoarding and save fuel will not solve the problem because as long as domestic oil prices remain tens of baht cheaper than neighboring countries, smuggling will continue. People will suffer even more when they find that despite conserving fuel, prices remain high, living costs increase, followed by higher electricity bills, which will be the next time bomb in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, the government shows no sign of managing electricity costs.”
Read more related news: