Thailand’s Fuel Efficiency Policy Initiative Coalition Workshop

On 28 & 29 November 2024, the ‘Introducing Measures, Pathways and Roadmaps for Optimising Vehicle Efficiency and Electrification’ (IMPROVE) project, implemented by GIZ, in collaboration with the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning (OTP), hosted a stakeholder workshop: ‘Thailand’s Fuel Efficiency Policy Initiative Coalition’ to delve into the topic of fuel efficiency policies suitable for Thailand, at the Pullman Pattaya Hotel G, Chonburi.

This workshop provided a platform for sharing valuable insights from local and international experts on the current fuel efficiency policy landscape, greenhouse gas reduction policies for the transport sector, policy models from abroad and vehicle fuel efficiency baseline calculations. This will help ensure that policies are well-informed, practical, and tailored to Thailand’s specific context.

Representatives from nine other key organisations also participated in the session, namely, the Office of Industrial Economics, the Industrial Standards Institute, the Department of Climate Change and Environment, the Pollution Control Department, the Excise Department, the Board of Investment, the Department of Land Transport, the Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency and the Energy Policy and Planning Office.

Chutinthorn Mankhong, Chief of the Sustainable Transport Promotion Group Safety Planning Bureau, OTP, giving opening remarks

Chutinthorn Mankhong, Chief of the Sustainable Transport Promotion Group Safety Planning Bureau, OTP, gave the opening remarks, emphasising the vital role and considerable impact of fuel efficiency policies in contributing to the greenhouse gas emissions reduction target in the transport sector as laid out by the Ministry of Transport, as well as the importance of close collaboration between relevant organisations in designing and implementing such complex policies.

[Left to right] Papondhanai Nanthachatchavankul, Project Manager of IMPROVE; Dinh-Son Tran, Research Consultant at the ICCT; Thitipat Dokmaithet, Entrepreneur and Industry Development Division Manager at the TAI; and Sunthorn Tummuntong, Senior Researcher at the TDRI were the speakers at the workshop.

To set the scene, Papondhanai Nanthachatchavankul, Project Manager of IMPROVE, illustrated the strong linkage between the fuel efficiency policy and climate change policy to reiterate the profound effect vehicle exhaust emissions have on total national greenhouse gas emissions. Next, Thitipat Dokmaithet, Automotive Human Resources Management Division Manager at the Thailand Automotive Institute (TAI), described the current landscape of the fuel efficiency policy in Thailand, where the policies in place acted as incentives rather that mandates for automakers.

Taking examples from abroad, Sunthorn Tummuntong, Senior Researcher at the Thailand Development Research Institute Foundation (TDRI), introduced the corporate average fuel efficiency standard, implemented in leading car-producing countries. The standard sets a fuel efficiency target for each vehicle category. Manufacturers need to ensure that the annual average fuel efficiency value of all the vehicles they produce in each category meets the assigned target. This approach allows automakers more flexibility in managing their fleet mix and in turn provides customers with a wider range of options, as opposed to the per-vehicle approach, in which vehicles are individually assessed against their category targets (such as Thailand is using). Next, Dinh-Son Tran, Research Consultant at the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), elaborated on the technicality and methodology for calculating the baseline, which is the basis for setting fuel efficiency standard targets. The process requires a comprehensive collection of accurate fleet data for valid results.

Participants exchanging opinions on fuel efficiency policy options in a group discussion

Finally, after several months of conducting the study on fuel efficiency policies for the IMPROVE project, the consultant team proposed policy options to the governmental representatives, comprising excise tax restructuring and the corporate average fuel efficiency standard. In small groups, participants identified how the policies might be relevant to their organisations’ goals, discussed possible improvements and weighed in on the feasibility of adopting either option. Most comments pointed to implementation challenges of the fuel efficiency standard. If Thailand were to enforce such a policy, it would need to consider the long timeframe of the regulation introduction process, which begged the question whether the standard could be introduced in time for it to have an impact by 2030.

Moreover, the formulation of technical processes was complicated and required the collaboration of multiple organisations to share roles and responsibilities. It was also agreed that there should exist a single platform for collecting, verifying and calculating all relevant data for both this and other similar policies. Finally, the standard could affect the stakeholders’ interests in both the public and private sector, especially in economic competitiveness, so careful policy design was essential to create engagement from all sides.

Presentation of the results from group discussions

In one way, the workshop served as a platform for knowledge sharing and an opportunity to learn about the fuel efficiency policies from the sector’s experts and, in another way, was a space for discussion and exchange of perspectives between different governmental agencies. The event equipped the policymakers with a deeper understanding of the policies (especially the fuel efficiency standard) and encouraged collaboration between participating organisations as they are equally key to driving and sustaining fuel efficiency measures in Thailand, representing a significant contribution to the country’s mitigation endeavours in accordance with the NDC Action Plan on Mitigation in the transport sector as well as competitiveness in the Thai automotive industry.