Thai government to punish profiteering food sellers

BANGKOK, May 12 (TNA) - Thai Commerce Minister Boonsong Teriyapirom announced Saturday that stiff legal punishment will be imposed on local food vendors found selling cooked food at over government-controlled prices. Speaking during the weekly broadcast of Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, on behalf of the prime minister who is in the northern Chiang Mai province, Boonsong acknowledged that the government, through his ministry, has decided to fix the prices of 10 cooked food under the administration's controlled price list, and that a sub-committee, headed by Permanent Secretary for Commerce Yanyong Puangraj, has been set up and tasked with fixing the prices of the cooked food. Boonsong warned that food sellers who are found to violate the government-set prices will face the maximum fine of 140,000 baht or a seven-year imprisonment each. Under the proposed 10 cooked food on the government-controlled price list, such dishes as pork stewed with rice and pork or chicken fried rice are to be sold at between 25-35 baht each; while a rice dish with omelet is to be sold at between 15-20 baht, depending on locations. According to the commerce minister, the proposal will be submitted before the Thai Cabinet for its approval next week and the prices of cooked food will then be removed from the government's controlled price list after current rising living costs return to a normal level. With an objective to stop goods prices from rising further, the commerce minister said that his ministry will also set up outlets nationwide, called "Took Jai" to offer supplies of cheap products, and that about 6,000 shops have applied for the initiative nationwide, 600 of them are in Bangkok and outlying areas. To date, the minister indicated, 28 of them have been opened on a trial basis and have received a warm welcome from consumers; while his ministry plans to open as many as additional 1,000 outlets by the end of this month. (TNA)