Numbers don't add up
Re: "PTIT denies oil refineries profiting from war", (Business, March 27).
The recent statement by the Petroleum and Energy Institute of Thailand (PTIT) raises several unresolved issues. PTIT is correct that the Gross Refining Margin (GRM) is not net profit, but GRM remains the key indicator of refinery profitability. A rise from 2.1 to 6.3 baht per litre represents a 200–300% increase in gross margin, which normally reflects higher profits.
PTIT also cites "implicit costs" rising by 3–6 baht per litre. Yet GRM increased at the same time. If costs rise and margins rise, refineries are clearly passing on costs while maintaining or improving profitability. This contradicts the claim that they are not benefiting.
The reference to tankers being unable to pass through the Strait of Hormuz is overstated. The route has not been fully closed, and Thailand imports crude from multiple regions beyond the Gulf.
The reliance on Singapore pricing is also incomplete. Thailand has regulatory tools, including export controls and Section‑7 oversight, that allow for price management.
Most importantly, the article itself notes a structural production deficit: 77 million litres of diesel produced versus 82–84 million litres demanded. This shortage is independent of war or "panic buying".
These inconsistencies deserve clarification so the public can understand the true drivers of fuel prices.
Chailai Kamol
What a show
Re: "Trump weaves from Sharpies to Bessent's glasses", (World, March 22).
I was watching the cabinet meeting at the White house attended by President Donald Trump on March 26 with utter disbelief. It surpassed the Adoration of Magi, even the adulation of Kim Jong-un of North Korea by his whole nation.
As Mr Trump ruminated on the pivotal role of a Sharpie pen and totally dominated the meeting with his egoistic remarks, his grovelling acolytes were falling over themselves while elevating him to the status of God who saved the world.
Instead of pragmatically discussing the nuts and bolts of the government's key policies, the meeting was a razzmatazz Hollywood-style adulation show, in which even the handpicked reporters were afraid to ask pertinent questions for fear of being thrown into a tank full of piranhas manipulated by Caroline Leavitt, the White House press secretary.
It was a nauseating, sobering experience demonstrating the helter-skelter way the government of the USA, the most powerful country on Earth, is dominated by one unhinged man is operating. Bring on the gold (oil!), frankincense and myrrh.
Miro King, dismayed
Lesson (not) learnt
Re: "Jakarta says no to Trump's $1bn fee", (World, March 24).
Travelling across Southeast Asia, I'm witnessing the consequences of Donald Trump's Middle East actions and the bottlenecking of the Hormuz Strait.
In Thailand, fuel shortages mean long queues at service stations, while fishing trawlers sit idle. Australian farmers, already battling drought, floods and intensifying climate extremes, face added pressures from rising fuel costs. Amid "peace talks" with Iran, the global decline in quality of life is stark. No Trump smoke and mirrors take can take the edge off real life suffering endured. It feels like a donkey leading lions to war -- Wall Street bluster over wisdom. This is not geopolitics; it is daily hardship felt worldwide.
Alas, the only fixity immune to fabrication will be numbers of civilian and military lives lost in the war. The lessons of Nixon's misadventures in Vietnam have not been learnt by this sabre-rattling president.
Joseph Ting
