NONTHABURI, THAILAND – Thailand’s Department of Internal Trade cracked down on LPG filling plants and traders that failed to fully fill cooking gas cylinders, issuing fines, filing complaints and seizing products while advancing measures to ease living costs.
Authority tightened checks after complaints
The Department of Internal Trade (DIT) inspected the filling and sale of LPG cooking gas following complaints from several regions about cylinders containing less gas than stated. The checks covered filling plants, wholesalers and retailers to protect consumers from disadvantages and to ensure fair trade.
Vice director-general Yaney Srimanee said rising living costs, driven in part by energy and oil prices, made accurate quantities especially important.
“Anyone who sells at the usual price but delivers less content than paid for is, in the authority’s view, acting opportunistically and unfairly towards consumers.”
said Yaney Srimanee, vice director-general of the Department of Internal Trade.
Spot checks in Nonthaburi found irregularities
During spot checks at sales outlets in Mueang district of Nonthaburi province, inspectors weighed individual gas cylinders whose net contents did not match the amounts printed on the bottles. Because the discrepancies exceeded legal tolerances, fines were imposed and retailers were ordered to instruct filling plants to correct the filling levels.
A special unit of the DIT also discovered a total of 57 underfilled cylinders at filling plants in Nonthaburi and Ayutthaya. The cases were reported under Thailand’s Weights and Measures Act (B.E. 2542/1999) to the responsible police stations in Bang Bua Thong and Wang Noi.
Wholesalers and retailers fined across several provinces
In the provinces of Yasothon, Khon Kaen and Chonburi, wholesalers were found selling LPG cylinders with insufficient filling volumes, according to the DIT. Authorities imposed a fine of 20,000 baht, seized the affected cooking gas and ordered that the products be corrected before any further sale.
Violations were also identified in the retail sector, including in Pathum Thani, Chachoengsao and Satun, where cylinders with incorrect net quantities were sold. In these cases, fines of 10,000 baht per offence were issued to enforce trading standards and protect consumers.
Ongoing nationwide inspections and Blue Flag support
The authority stressed that the operations were part of regular inspection plans and also a response to citizen complaints and proactive market surveillance. The DIT said it would continue random checks nationwide and instruct filling plants and traders to verify the weight before every delivery or sale.
Alongside enforcing accurate quantities, the department was pursuing measures to relieve the public, including the “Thong Fah” (Blue Flag) programme aimed at reducing living costs, according to Yaney Srimanee. The number of sales outlets had been expanded from around 60 to more than 500 nationwide, and the direct supply of raw materials to restaurants was being promoted to lower costs and enable affordable prices.
How consumers can report suspected fraud
Consumers who suspected that LPG cylinders were not full—for example if the gas was used up faster than usual—could report their concerns to the Department of Internal Trade hotline on 1569. Alternatively, complaints could be submitted via the “Mr.DIT” app under the “Complaints” menu, including photo or video evidence so that authorities could quickly investigate and take legal action.