Bangkok's taxi drivers end protest on gas price hike

BANGKOK, January 9 (TNA) - Hundreds of taxi drivers have ended their road blockage at the Royal Plaza and on Phitsanulok Road in front of Government House in Bangkok, after learning from their leader that the government has promised to subsidize their gas costs for four months, during which the government will study whether it can review a Cabinet resolution late last year on retail price hikes of natural gas for vehicle (NGV) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). Their leader, Withoon Naewpanich, told the protesting taxi drivers, after discussing the gas price hike issue with the Permanent Secretary for Energy, the Land Transport Department Director-General and a representative of PTT Public Company Limited (PTT), that the government would offer gas price discount cards to them and form a working group to study the possibility of reviewing the Cabinet resolution on the gas price rises, with the participation of representatives of taxi drivers in having their says, and that PTT has promised to spend part of its profits on welfare for taxi drivers including insurance for their injuries at work. Regarding the availability of natural gas stations, Withoon said the government had promised to increase their number, vowing that the government would be pressured to meet its promises and cab drivers' demonstrations would be more powerful if the promises would not take shape within the four-month timeframe. Some taxi drivers drove their vehicles from the Royal Plaza and blew their horns all the way to adjacent Government House to listen to the result of the negotiation, paralyzing traffic in front of Government House and nearby areas. As not all the taxi drivers were immediately convinced to end their road blockage, Police Major General Wichai Sangpraphai, Chief of Metropolitan Police Division 1, told them that a change to the Cabinet resolution would take times and the government had promised there would not be any impact on taxi drivers over the next four months. The senior police officer and Withoon repeated their explanations until all the taxi drivers agreed to end their rally Monday afternoon. (TNA)