Thai truckers protest high fuel prices

Trucks and lorries were parked along roadsides on major highways in Thailand, as operators and drivers protested against rising fuel prices and demanded the government to help cut down their costs. About 48 giant 18-wheeled rigs lined the roadside of the Bang Na-Trad highway, just east of Bangkok, while hundreds of trucks parked in the country’s eastern and northeastern provinces, according to Thai News Agency. Thongyu Kongkhan, secretary-general of the Land Transport Federation, which organized the protest, submitted letters to the prime minister, energy minister, transport minister, as well as to the chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries, urging the government to issue urgent measures to help cushion the impact of high diesel prices. The federation demanded that the government provide 400,000 liters of diesel fuel per day for 400,000 trucks nationwide at a lower price for at least six months. (June 11, 2008)