As Thailand’s diesel price freeze ends, drivers rush to fill up, causing long queues and fuel shortages on Bangkok outskirts.

Thai drivers queue for fuel as government price freeze nears end

As Thailand’s diesel price freeze ends, drivers rush to fill up, causing long queues and fuel shortages on Bangkok outskirts.

March 16, 2026

Reuters

Drivers queue in traffic as they wait to refuel their vehicles outside a fuel station, before Thailand's diesel price freeze expires on Monday, amid concerns about rising fuel prices linked to the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran, in Nakhon Pathom province, on the outskirts of Bangkok, Thailand, March 16, 2026.

Chalinee Thirasupa/Reuters

Long lines of drivers queued at gas stations on the outskirts of Bangkok on Monday (March 16) as Thailand's diesel price freeze neared expiration, with some stations reporting fuel shortages.

The Thai government froze diesel prices for 15 days in early March, a measure set to expire on Monday. The policy has led to increased demand as drivers rush to fill up before potential price increases.

"We don’t have enough fuel because a lot of people came to refuel. They come from everywhere,"" said Poonyaporn Kerdphokha, 31, a gas station worker who has been employed there for more than 10 years.

The government will decide how to adjust diesel prices once the freeze ends, Deputy Prime Minister and Transport Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said Friday (March 13).

Production: Chalinee Thirasupa, Thomas Suen/Reuters