Bus and airline operators are urging the government to continue to subsidise fuel costs for the whole year to relieve the burden on companies and passengers as the tourism industry slowly recovers to match 2019 levels.
"Increasing the fuel price would result in higher tour fees," said Wasuchet Sophonsathien, president of the Thai Transportation Operators Association.
"The question is who will bear this transport cost, as bus operators can hardly endure any additional burden, while travellers don't want to spend more because many of them have a limited budget."
The Finance Ministry announced it will not extend the excise tax cut on diesel of 5 baht per litre after this measure ends on July 20.
Mr Wasuchet said private bus operators are worried about a possible increase in the diesel price from 31-32 baht per litre, which they consider to be a costly expense.
At this rate, he said bus services can post a profit margin of less than 5-10%, compared with 15-20% when diesel cost 27-28 baht per litre.
Mr Wasuchet said some segments of the tourism industry are rebounding slowly, such as large tour groups, while domestic travellers are making fewer trips because of high living costs and economic constraints.
He said the new government should extend the diesel tax cut or establish a special diesel price quota for the logistics and public transport sectors.
A quota would benefit not only tourism, but also domestic consumption as a reduced fuel price would lower the cost of daily goods and products, said Mr Wasuchet.
As a member of the Federation of Thai Tourism Associations, the agency also asked the government to allow the road safety fund to subsidise bus maintenance fees to prepare for the high season.
Roughly 15,000 buses are back in operation, compared with 40,000 buses in 2019.
The maintenance fee per bus costs more than 500,000 baht.
Meanwhile, the Airlines Association of Thailand (AAT) urged the government to continue the excise tax cut on jet fuel for domestic flights to help maintain airfares for passengers.
After the tax reduction ends on June 30, the price will shoot up to 4.726 baht per litre.
Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth, the AAT president, said the rate should be maintained at 0.20 baht per litre before gradually increasing step by step.
A new rate should be appropriate for the current tourism outlook, he said.
The Excise Department said the caretaker government does not have the authority to extend this measure, but it plans to study an appropriate tax rate to prepare for the new government.
