Diesel Surge Prompts Daily Price Monitoring for 17 Essential Goods

The Ministry of Commerce has placed 17 vulnerable items on a daily price watch list after diesel prices surged, putting pressure on traders to raise egg prices. Wathanyu Suea-iam, Director-General of the Department of Internal Trade, disclosed that the latest diesel price adjustment — stemming from the drawn-out Middle East conflict and flood problems — has prompted the department to intensify monitoring of essential goods and services. Fuel makes up as much as 40% of logistics costs, and some necessary items have cost structures tied to oil prices and imported raw materials. The goal is to track and control consumer prices closely to shield household budgets.

In October 2026, the department reclassified 242 goods and services into three monitoring tiers: 1. Sensitive List — exceptionally price-sensitive items requiring daily tracking (17 items): pork, live chicken, chicken eggs, chemical fertilizer, animal feed, vegetable oil, white sugar, bagged rice, semi-processed sealed foods, hermetically sealed foods, steel rebar, structural steel, galvanized steel sheet, chromium-coated steel sheet, diesel, fresh milk, and plastic pellets. 2. Priority Watch List — items tracked twice weekly (6 items): ready-to-eat meals, powdered milk, pesticides, hot-rolled steel plate, vacuum cleaners, and air purifiers. 3. Watch List — items tracked every 15 days (196 items), including duck eggs, beef, mackerel, toilet and facial tissue, soap, soy sauce, fish sauce, condensed milk, bricks, plastic bags, cooking gas, and student uniforms.

Wathanyu addressed a pig farm's decision to raise the suggested live hog price by 4 baht per kilogram from October 19, saying the increase must be understood as some farms suffered flood damage and the vegetarian festival is underway. The pork price situation remains concerning; the department plans to coordinate with the Department of Livestock Development on relief measures for flood-hit farms and ways to reduce farmers' high feed costs.

On chicken eggs, the current farm-gate price for size 3 eggs averages 4.54 baht each, with the national average around 4 baht. Daily production is about 43.69 million eggs against consumption of roughly 42 million, with the surplus normally exported. However, flooding in Prachin Buri has removed an estimated 2 million eggs per day from the supply chain. The department has met with exporters to delay shipments and replenish domestic supply, and with livestock officials and farmers to extend laying cycles by five weeks to replace the shortfall.

The department has also deployed inspection teams with the Central Investigation Bureau to probe certain farms and specialized egg collectors who only operate when supplies are tight, causing market disruption. If such behavior is found, penalties under Section 41 of the Price of Goods and Services Act B.E. 2542 (1999) — including imprisonment — will be pursued.