NGV bus fares likely to rise just a little

       Bus users may be feeling a little more at ease as the fares for the new naturalgas fuelled buses, which are set to replace old green minibuses, are expected to go up only slightly.
       Cheap natural gas prices will likely offset the high cost of obtaining the new buses, Chairat Sanguanchue,director-general of the Land Transport Department, said yesterday.
       The fare is forecast to rise to slightly over seven baht from 6.5 baht currently.
       "We have to discuss with related parties and consider many factors before coming up with a standard price which is not expected to increase much as natural gas prices are lower than petrol which will help balance out the cost of buying the new buses," Mr Chairat said.
       Many minibus operators have yet to comply with the state policy that requires public bus operators to replace their buses with new natural gas for vehicles (NGV) buses by August this year due to a lack of financial support.
       The policy took effect in 2007 with the purpose of lifting the standard of public buses and promoting the use of alternative fuels.
       The deadline has been extended to June 2010 to allow more time for minibus operators to replace their buses.
       Sombat Laksana-Apinyo, one of the owners of Patchara Bus which operates five minibuses, said although he agreed with the replacement policy as new airconditioned buses will be welcomed by passengers, the timing was not right.
       The economy is still bad and banks tend to lend to big firms like bus manufacturers and distributors, not small operators like him, Mr Sombat said. It would have been better to have waited another two years until the economy had fully recovered.
       He said the company spent about 3 million baht per natural gas bus, and his company has already ordered five of them to replace its old minibuses.
       Meanwhile, the Islamic Bank of Thailand yesterday launched its third auto hire-purchase loan programme aimed at lending 1.5 billion baht to support minibus operators to switch to NGV buses.
       Suthep Suebsantiwong, an executive of the Islamic Bank, said loan requests worth 500 million baht requested by 10 minibus operators are being considered.
       Mr Suthep said operators will benefit from the replacement as it is a longterm investment. Existing buses consume 3-4 baht worth of petrol per kilometre, while natural gas buses will only cost one baht per kilometre.
       The Finance Ministry has directed the Islamic Bank to increase its loan target for this year to 33.7 billion baht from 20.7 billion baht set earlier. The state-owned bank lent 18 billion baht in the first nine months of the year.
       Regarding the government's approval for the lease of 4,000 natural gas-fuelled buses, Mr Chairat expects to see the terms of reference (TOR) completed in the next two months in order to arrange orders by the end of the year. Buses are expected to be on the road in 15 months.
       With regard to e-tickets, Mr Chairat said e-tickets should not be used with existing public buses as suggested by the National Economic and Social Development Board since the system is not yet ready.
       He suggested e-tickets should be used along with the new buses.
       Thawatchai Phaolueangthong, a minibus operator under a concession of the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA), said even though the Land Transport Department's policy is to replace green minibuses with airconditioned natural gas-powered buses from Aug 16, most bus operators are reluctant to take out loans to replace their buses.
       This is because they were still waiting for a clearer direction for the government's 4,000 natural gas bus leasing project.
       Some were afraid they might not be able to run their new buses on certain routes once the BMTA launches its own natural gas bus lease project, said Mr Thawatchai.