BANGKOK, 25 June 2012 – The Ministry of Commerce has vowed to stabilize product prices until August this year despite a tendency that energy prices will drop.
Permanent Secretary for Commerce Yanyong Phuangrach said the ministry’s 2nd “Blue Flag Fair: Thais Help Thais” at IMPACT Muang Thong Thani from 21-25 June was a success. Scores of people have visited the event to buy products sold at 20-40% lower than normal prices in the market. The number of visitors during the five-day fair is estimated at over 300,000 people with the total sales exceeding the target of 200 million baht. The fair is also expected to help reduce people’s cost of living by 100 million baht. Famous products during the Blue Flag Fair this year include eggs, vegetable oil, pork, sugar and rice.
As for the current situation of product prices, Mr. Yanyong said the prices of fresh food products were reportedly lower than last year. He added that the energy price decrease would help bring down the costs of production of goods while predicting that the second quarter inflation rate would be low and the average rate of the first two quarters would stand at 3%. Nonetheless, the Permanent Secretary insisted that product prices would be kept unchanged until August despite the declining production costs.
Another tool of the Commerce Ministry to assist the general public is the “Thuk Jai” shops, which sell 20 groups of low-priced commodities. 2,800 “Thuk Jai” shops have started selling cheap products so far. To distribute the commodities faster, the ministry has assigned Thailand Post Co., Ltd. to set up 15 distribution centers across the country.
