Thailand latest to lower fuel prices amid protests

By Pisit Changplayngam and Jeremy Lovell

BANGKOK/LONDON (Reuters) - Thailand moved on Friday to ease the pain of record high oil by lowering prices, while the British government set out extra measures to help the poor and boost energy efficiency.

Booming oil and energy prices have spawned protests across the world and are creating fiscal and political headaches for governments. In Asia, where many countries subsidize or otherwise control the price of fuels, the issue has become acute.

Thailand was the latest to buckle. The government said on Friday the country's four state-run refineries would sell diesel to bus operators in Bangkok at a discount of 3 baht (9.4 cents) per liter.

The four refineries, all affiliates of Thailand's biggest oil and gas firm PTT PCL, agreed to supply 122 million liters of cheaper diesel per month to bus companies struggling to hold fares down, Energy Minister Poonpirom Liptapanlop said.

The scheme starts on June 1 and is set to run for six months.

"This is a voluntary decision by the four refiners based on their willingness to help ease the people's burden," Poonpirom told reporters after a meeting with the refiners chaired by Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej.

The decision followed a strike by private bus operators on Thursday in Bangkok after a court temporarily blocked their plans to hike fares.

In Britain, households where more than 10 percent of income is spent on energy bills will get special help, including home insulation aid, microgeneration and information sharing, the government announced on Friday.

"These new measures will make homes across the country more energy efficient and give people at risk of fuel poverty a boost where they need it most," said Environment Minister Phil Woolas.

Over the past week or so as oil touched a record $135, Indonesia, Taiwan and Sri Lanka have raised regulated fuel prices, forced into unpopular action by the unsustainable cost of subsidies.

CHINA RATIONING

India is expected to take a decision on raising prices in the next two to three days, with key political leaders expressing a willingness to tackle mounting losses at state oil firms.

But China, which uses nearly three times as much fuel as India, was unlikely to adjust prices until after the Olympics. But shortages there, which started more than a fortnight ago, have hit at least half a dozen Chinese provinces on the east.

Petrol stations in at least three major Chinese coastal cities were rationing diesel, drivers said, causing long queues of trucks and reviving the specter of bigger fuel shortages that could stir discontent.

"I've never seen so many trucks queuing for fuel like this before," said one driver on her way home in southern Beijing.