NGV shortage in northeast hurts bus firms, drivers
The Nation
KHON KAEN: -- The short supply of natural gas for vehicles (NGV) in the Northeast has driven up costs for public transport operators and forced Songkran visitors to abandon their cars or delay their return to Bangkok.
"I've been looking for NGV for days and still can't get any despite waiting in a queue for hours. Although NGV saves money, this problem if repeated many times could make it a useless option," Navamin Makphokha, a businessman in Khon Kaen, said yesterday.
Authorities should improve the availability of NGV stations or else people will have to turn to other systems, he said.
Many Bangkok-bound buses and taxis had to switch to expensive petrol, while personal vehicles were left at home after their owners had to wait long hours every day at filling stations in Khon Kaen's Muang district but couldn't top up their tanks.
Apirak Khanthong, an attendant at the Pokchat service station on Mittrapap Highway, said only one load of NGV was delivered in the morning in contrast with the huge queue waiting at the station.
Patimaporn Sangrak, a conductor on a Khon Kaen-Kranuan bus, said while her coach was waiting to refuel that she thought they would have to go back empty-handed again as in the past two or three days, so they would have to come line up much earlier the next day.
Although the bus could run on both NGV and petrol, the company wanted to avoid the latter fuel as much as possible because its prices kept rising but fares stayed the same, she said.
Pichet Changheung, a driver of a Bangkok-Nong Khai bus, who succeeded in getting served at Ban Kud Kwang Station in Khon Kaen's Muang district, said he felt lucky even though the tank was only 80 per cent full and he would have to stop again for more on the way to Bangkok.
Two days earlier they drove to Nong Khai but had to return on petrol and bear a higher cost.
"Fortunately it's Songkran, so we had a bus full of passengers," he said.
The Nation 2012-04-17
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