“Teerarat” criticizes the government’s tax cut on E20-B20 fuels as missing the mark, urging a reduction in taxes on B7 diesel and gasohol 91-95 to support low-income people.
On 27 Oct 2026 GMT+7, at the Democrat Party headquarters, Teerarat Sirichantaropas, the party’s energy economics team member, held a press conference regarding the Cabinet’s decision to reduce excise taxes on E20 and B20 fuels for three months. He said the Democrat Party believes this measure does not fully address the cost of living because these two fuels have very low usage compared to B7 diesel and gasohol 95/91. Currently, B20 is used at about 3 million liters per day, and E20 at approximately 6.5 million liters per day only.
Meanwhile, B7 diesel, a key fuel for transportation, agriculture, manufacturing, and public buses, is used at about 62 million liters per day. Gasohol fuels are consumed at 31 million liters daily, including by food delivery riders, motorcycle taxi drivers, and many low-income individuals.
Regarding Deputy Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s statement that the tax cuts on B20 and E20 target support for farmers and transport workers, the Democrat Party noted that currently E20 and B20 are already priced about 6 baht per liter cheaper than regular gasohol and diesel, yet people still do not widely use them. Given the usage gap is more than tenfold, how can the government be sure that lowering prices further will increase consumption?
“Currently, very few people use B20 and E20 because these fuels cannot be used with many types of agricultural machinery. Therefore, this solution misses the real problem,” he said. Teerarat added,
The Democrat Party reiterated its previous proposal that if the government sincerely wants to help reduce the cost of living for citizens, it should genuinely lower taxes across all fuel types, not just those less used by the public. The government must listen more to the hardships faced by people struggling with living costs.
“We urge the government to listen to the people and empathize with their situation. Don’t implement half-hearted policies with superficial fixes that do not ease suffering but instead reveal a lack of maturity and awareness of what fuel types people queuing at gas stations today truly need,” Teerarat said. Teerarat concluded.