Thailand's Government is stepping up its alternative fuels programs with a raft of measures aimed at increasing natural gas and bio-fuel use for transport. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is quoted as saying that since oil would likely become more expensive in the future, the country had to start finding alternative fuels and conserving energy sources immediately, otherwise it would find itself facing economic turmoil within the next 10 years.

Conversion of taxis, buses and Government vehicles, including the Prime Minister's car, are the core of the program. Government owned energy supplier PTT Thailand plans to double the number of CNG refuelling sites it has by the end of this year, bringing the total amount of sites to around 50.

By 2008, PTT expects to have 200 sites operational servicing 100,000 vehicles, a substantial increase over earlier targets of 120 sites and 45,000 vehicles.

Government owned banks are offering 'soft loans' to assist vehicle owners with conversion costs where the loan is payed back through slightly higher than normal charges for CNG.

The government is also purchasing land to allow increased production of palm oil with a view to harvsting it for bio-fuel use.