THAI BUS OPERATORS CHANGE COLLECTIVELY TO NGV
Published at 14.10.2009 in Alternatives, Minibuses
Private-bus concessionaires in Thailand will have to replace their diesel-powered green minibuses with new NGV buses within the next six months. Executives of the Islamic Bank of Thailand, the Land Transport Department and the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) signed a joint agreement to grant loans worth 1.5 billion baht to minibus operators to help them replace their current diesel-powered bus fleets with NGV ones.
Executive of the Islamic Bank of Thailand, Suthep Suebsantiwong, said the bank has set a requirement for minibus concessionaires to put down a minimum of 20 percent of down payment for NGV minibuses, priced between 3 million and 4 million baht each, with maximum installment period of 6 years and annual interest rate of 5.5 to 7.5 percent.The average fuel cost of each NGV minibus is considered to be one baht per kilometer compared to nearly four baht of their diesel-powered counterparts.
The green minibuses with diesel engines will be removed from service as the licences have expired since mid-August 2009. The buses were allowed to continue to operate for an additional six months until the operators have purchased the new NGV fleets.
Further, the BMTA has decided to lease 4,000 air-conditioned NGV buses for its own fleet, they will be ordered before the year-end and expected to be put into operation from 2011 onwards.
