Green fuel puts smugglers out of business

PHUKET: Lateral thinking by authorities appears to have won the day with official Green Fuel far outselling smuggled fuel in the Andaman Sea. The green-dyed diesel fuel is sold free of excise tax and VAT to Thai fishing boats as a way to stop them buying cheap fuel in international waters, or smuggled fuel in Thai waters. Pol Maj Prasert Srikhunnar of the Phuket Marine Police said, “The sale of smuggled fuel has reduced rapidly and, we hope, will be extinct in the near future.” The seven-month experiment by the Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT) has resulted in only one group, the Faktong (Pumpkin) Group, still selling fuel in international waters, mostly to Indonesian and Malaysian fishing boats, he said. Three companies now sell large quantities of Green Fuel from 10 tankers in the Andaman Sea.