Eastern Region News May 30, 2008 19:57 PM Ban On Sale Of Fuel To Foreign Vehicles Causes Chaos At Petrol Kiosks RANTAU PANJANG, May 30 (Bernama) -- The situation at some petrol stations in this border town was chaotic today when the operators refused to sell petroleum and diesel to foreign-registered vehicles following the ban on the sale of fuel to foreign vehicles. Some of the vehicles entered Malaysia and waited at the petrol stations as early as 6am soon after the checkpoint at the Malaysia-Thai border was opened. The situation calmed down only after they were allowed to purchase the fuel and this came about when a petrol kiosk operator produced a letter from the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry (DTCAM) to inform that the ban on the sale of fuel to foreign vehicles would only come into effect next week. Shortly after, there was a rush from Thai-registered vehicles entering the country and hundreds of them made their way to the four petrol stations here to fill up their tanks. Several DTCAM officers from the Kelantan enforcement division were seen monitoring the situation. Yesterday, Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Shahrir Samad said that the ban on the sale of fuel to foreign-registered vehicles in Johor would be enforced on June 9 while states in the north and east coast of the peninsula on Monday. A trader from Sungai Golok, South Thailand, Adnan Bungsu, 40, said he drove to Malaysia after being informed that the ban on fuel sale to foreign vehicles had not been enforced. A petrol station operator here, Che Yam Che Seman, expected her sale to drop with the enforcement of the ban since her customers were mostly from Thailand. -- BERNAMA