Thailand’s Energy Ministry proposed to cap number of new vehicles running on LPG

Thailand’s Energy Ministry’s plan to limit the number of new LPG-fuelled vehicles in the future has caused concern among businesses, The Nation reports.
As of January 2013, there are 1,014,000 LPG vehicles in Thailand. This is compared to 32,719,000 total vehicles in the country.
Energy Minister Pongsak Ruktapongpisal told Thailand’s House of Representatives that the country should reduce the use of liquefied petroleum gas by new vehicles in the future to tackle the shortage of the fuel and accidents.
He added that the Transport and Industry ministries should step up efforts to ensure that LPG systems installed in vehicles meet safety standards.
Pongsak will discuss this idea with the Transport Ministry, which oversees vehicle registration, and the Industry Ministry, which is in charge of the installation of LPG systems in vehicles.
While it remains to be seen whether this idea can materialize, Apisit Tanadumrongsak, deputy managing director of SCG Autogas, said reports of Pongsak’s comment had prompted a 50% drop in LPG customers. He said the company was waiting to see a clearer policy from the minister.
SCG Autogas, a major player in the business of retrofitting gas systems for vehicles, has felt a very slight impact because 90 % of its business focuses on fitting natural-gas systems for major carmakers.
As for LPG-driven vehicles catching fire, Apisit said this could be blamed on gas systems being fitted by illegal operators who do not follow an accepted standard, or on car owners not maintaining their vehicles properly.
Instead of banning LPG systems, he said the government should amend the law and require that all LPG-driven vehicles are checked every year or even every three years instead of the five years as required at present. (February 27, 2013)