Seven online delivery platforms confirmed on Monday that they would not raise their delivery charges despite rising energy prices caused by the Russia-Ukraine conflict to help reduce the cost of living.
Speaking after meeting operators of Shopee, Lazada, Grab Food, Lineman, Foodpanda, Robinhood and AirAsia Food on Monday, Wattanasak Sur-iam, director-general of the Internal Trade Department, said seven goods and food online delivery platforms agreed to cooperate with the Commerce Ministry's request to further cap their delivery charges to help consumers.
Those platforms also confirmed they have no plans to raise their delivery fees during this difficult period, he said.
In addition, according to Mr Wattanasak, these platforms had also agreed to cooperate with the department's request to show or display their delivery charges to consumers.
In a related development, Mr Wattanasak said the department sent letters to associations related to the production of chemical fertiliser to let them know about the principles and procedures under the department's consideration in order for them to raise fertiliser prices.
The consideration will take about 30 days and the department needs to analyse their cost structures.
The Internal Trade Department last Friday approved local traders and suppliers increasing fertiliser prices in line with rising production costs, but the move is on a case-by-case basis.
The department said the rate increase for each trader and supplier would not be identical because their production costs vary.
According to Mr Wattanasak production costs have risen by as much as 36-49% over 2021 levels and nearly 100% above 2020 levels, primarily due to a sharp rise in global crude oil prices and the Russia-Ukraine war.
Thailand is a net importer of fertiliser, importing over 5 million tonnes of fertiliser a year, with the main suppliers being the Middle East, China, Russia and Canada.
Thailand imported 500,000 tonnes of fertiliser from Russia last year, using a port in Ukraine.
Mr Wattanasak said the department has also continued to closely watch the overall product price situation and dispatch inspection teams to monitor the prices of essential products and food and vegetables on a daily basis.
