Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas, also a caretaker deputy prime minister, said people worried about price rises were rushing to buy fuel at local petrol stations where there were no stored emergency reserves of fuel, reports the Bangkok Post.
Owners of public transport vehicles were also buying and storing fuel from retail pumps where diesel prices were much lower than prices quoted by their usual providers.
Demand was further fuelled by knowledge the government’s decision to freeze diesel prices would end early this coming week, according to officials.
Sarawoot Kaewtathip, director-general of the Department of Energy Business, said that as of Friday Thailand had a crude oil reserve of 96 days of use. There was no shortage of fuel.
People rushing to top up had caused some petrol stations to run dry. The government was accelerating fuel deliveries to solve the problem, he said.
PTT chief executive officer Kongkrapan Intarajang said PTT had worldwide sources of crude oil and could buy from other ports, not just those around the volatile Strait of Hormuz.
This included the US, Latin America and West Africa, Thailand also had enough refining capacity to meet domestic demand, he said.