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Thailand
This Week in AsiaPolitics

Iran war shock derails Thailand’s economic reboot under PM Anutin

As drivers panic buy diesel and the public is urged to limit air con use, Thai civil servants are ordered home to preserve dwindling energy

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Thailand’s Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul. He is grappling with an anaemic growth forecast and a looming energy crisis triggered by the Iran war. Photo: AFP
Aidan Jones
Thailand’s Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has finalised his coalition partners and tapped allies for cabinet posts, but the spillover from the war in the Middle East is already diluting the economic momentum his new government hopes to take into office.

Anutin’s in-tray was already bulging with promises to address domestic woes, including high household debt and a slowdown in growth that has led to an anaemic 2026 forecast of between 1.5 and 2.1 per cent.

But the unexpected spike in energy prices and soaring freight costs triggered by the Iran war have added to the burden of a government looking for “quick wins” when it formally takes office, likely next month, after a convincing electoral win on February 8.
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The energy ministry on Tuesday said there were currently no fuel shortages. But with three months of reserves slowly dwindling as the conflict drags into a second week, Anutin called on government workers to stay at home where possible, while a wider appeal has gone out to the public to conserve energy, including by limiting air conditioning units to 26 degrees Celsius (78.8 degrees Fahrenheit) – just as the kingdom enters its hottest season.

“The prime minister ordered that starting from today [Tuesday] civil servants will work from home,” spokeswoman Lalida Periswiwatana told reporters.

A petrol station attendant fills the tank of a car in Bangkok, Thailand, on Monday. Some drivers have begun panic buying diesel amid fears of a fuel shortage. Photo: AP
A petrol station attendant fills the tank of a car in Bangkok, Thailand, on Monday. Some drivers have begun panic buying diesel amid fears of a fuel shortage. Photo: AP

Some drivers have begun panic buying diesel while businesses brace for the impact of a prolonged Middle East war on their supply chains and energy needs in a country brutally exposed to a far-off conflict.

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