The Ministry of Energy is also responsible for the management of Thailand's Oil
Stabilization Fund that regulates and, in effect, subsidizes retail and wholesale petroleum
product prices. The government is attempting to limit the subsidies for LPG and diesel, but
pricing reforms are typically caught between the dual pressures of protecting consumers
and industry against inflation and the fund's depletion. As a first step, the government's goal
is to raise LPG prices, at least for industrial and petrochemical consumers, as part of
pricing reforms.