Thailand’s PTT to freeze pump prices as Iran attacks spur panic buying in Mekong area

Thailand’s state-backed energy giant PTT will freeze pump prices for 15 days as war in the Middle East disrupts oil and gas shipments through the crucial Strait of Hormuz, spurring panic buying and some fuel rationing across parts of the Mekong region.

Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar are heavily reliant on Middle Eastern oil and gas, whose flows have been choked since the weekend after the US and Israel attacked Iran. Tehran retaliated by striking tankers and energy facilities across the Gulf.

US President Donald Trump has pledged that Washington will provide naval escorts if necessary to keep tankers moving through the narrow strait – a chokepoint for about 20 per cent of the world’s fuel. He has also offered to backstop shipping insurers that have cancelled contracts in recent days, fearing catastrophic losses as the war escalates.

Nor did they ease concerns in mainland Southeast Asia, where oil and gas supplies are running low. Social media videos show long queues at petrol stations across Thailand, particularly along the border with Myanmar, as well as in the Laotian capital, Vientiane.