As Thailand pushes ahead with its roadmap toward a greener and more sustainable future, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Ekniti Nitithanprapas has announced plans to transition the country from combustion-engine vehicles to electric vehicles. This move will be considered the first phase of transition towards EV adoption for Thailand, with the plan to prioritize replacing public vehicles, namely buses, vans, and taxis, with electric ones before moving on to the next phase of transition for private vehicles. 

Dr. Ekniti says the reason for prioritizing public vehicles first is that vans, taxis, and buses are widely and frequently used by the public, while private vehicles are still covered under the EV 3.5 measure, coming under government support of 50,000 baht per vehicle. 

The announcement is merely the start of what should be a lengthy overhaul process. Dr Ekniti has brought in the Permanent Secretary for Finance, together with the Excise Department, to discuss the details with the Ministry of Industry. The generations’ worth of public vehicles cannot disappear overnight, but this is a move towards infrastructure reform and one which is becoming more necessary in today’s climate.

Beyond greater energy savings, the road to green will also eliminate old vehicles with high PM2.5 and carbon dioxide, effectively tackling multiple problems at once.  

The road to transition is lengthy, and discussions will be held with the Ministry of Transport regarding deregistration, whilst scrapping and dismantling vehicles remain under discussion with the Ministry of Industry. Dr. Ekniti says that disposing vehicle wrecks to standard may require assistance from the private sector. 

Zooming Out

The government has been transparent about drafting Thailand’s green transition roadmap, an agenda that has been fast-tracked by the state of geopolitical uncertainty and the fallout from the Strait of Hormuz which highlighted Thailand’s own energy vulnerability. Energy transition also sits at the heart of the government’s controversial THB 400 billion baht emergency loan decree which has already been approved by the Constitutional Court, as half the amount is ear-marked for transition support and investment into sweeping clean energy initiatives.  

This initiative marks a tentative first step towards reform, but with multiple government branches and ministries involved and uncertainty over private sector involvement, it could be some time till we see an overhaul of public transportation vehicles. 

The Key Takeaway

Broadly speaking, the transition to EV public vehicles is part of the government’s long-term roadmap for a greener Thailand. It is also intwined with Dr. Ekniti’s push for the old-for-new vehicle trade-in program, a scheme that will aim to incentivize car owners to trade their cars for EV, which currently remain in draft mode and in discussion with the Ministry of Interior. Whilst transitioning public vehicles will undoubtedly create more positive impact, implementation remains in the works.

The government has publicly committed to a sweeping green transition and energy reform, but details and timeline remains in the works. Firstly, deregistration needs to be clarified, followed by scrapping standards and private sector involvement. For a meaningful transition phase, we would need to see a different kind of policy rollout, one with a clearly divided working timeline and accountability partners. Planning a country’s transition to clean energy demands real policy commitment, this is worth watching as a signal of how serious the government actually is about its green agenda.

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