BANGKOK, May 13 – The Commerce Ministry will propose the Cabinet add cooked meals into the price control list on May 14, said Commerce Minister Boonsong Teriyapirom on Sunday.
The committee on prices of goods and service will propose the Cabinet on May 14 add cooked meals in the price control list, Mr Boonsong said.
After cabinet approval, menus, prices, and selling locations will be specified in 7-10 days.
The minister said prices of some food ingredients have dropped and operators should reduce prices in accordance with real capital costs.
The measure to control cooked meals is likely to be implemented for about two months and it will be considered again whether or not it should be continued to be put into place.
The Commerce minister on Sunday inspected the Si Mum Muang Central Market, a large wholesale vegetable market in Pathum Thani province adjacent to Bangkok, with about 3,000-4,000 tonnes of fresh vegetables bought and sold per day.
The minister was briefed by market officials on vegetable prices, that prices of some vegetables such as Chinese kale and cabbage are higher because of damage and lower harvests because of the extremely recent hot weather.
However, the price of medium-sized limes has dropped from six baht to three baht, while the price of string beans remain high at 60-70 baht per kilogramme.
Mr Boonsong said vegetable prices are likely to drop in the next two week as produce grown in May comes to market.
Meanwhile, in an attempt to tackle higher good prices, the Commerce Ministry plans to open 1,000 local retail shops under its “Took Jai (favorite) shop” campaign across the country by the end of this month in order to supply goods at fair prices to consumers.
