ALHISIT VOWS PROGRESS ON DEMOCRACY

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva yesterday tried to allay international concern about the future of Thailand, promising democracy will move forward.
"I can't tell how fast democracy in Thailand will move forward. The experience of Western countries has shown that it took centuries.
"The point is Thai democracy will no longer be moving backward," he said in a speech on democracy delivered at St John's College at Oxford University.
During the prime minister's visit to his old university there was a brief confrontation with left-wing academic Giles Ungphakorn, who fled Thailand for the UK after being charged with lese majeste in January.
During a question and answer session, Mr Giles accused the government of using the lese majeste law to protect the administration and military. But the prime minister argued that it was never used to charge anyone without grounds.
Wearing red, the former Chulalongkorn University political scientist greeted Mr Abhisit with a foot clapper when the prime minister was introduced to the audience, mostly academics and students.
Mr Abhisit defended the 2006 coup as necessary to end the abuse of power by Thaksin Shinawatra's government and said it did not interfere with politics after the People Power party, backed by the convicted former prime minister, won the general elections a year later.
He said political reform, culminating in the 1997 constitution, had been damaged by corrupt politicians who also undermined the rule of law. The speech at the world-renowned university wrapped up Mr Abhisit's visit to London ahead of the G20 summit scheduled for April 2. The prime minister will represent Asean at the summit. Thailand is the current chair of the 10-nation grouping.
In a joint statement with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown released yesterday, the Thai and British governments made it clear that they wanted to see a stand against protectionism coming out of the summit.
They also expect a call for multilateral efforts to stimulate economies and to see international financial institutions reformed. The statement was carefully worded when it came to the Burma issue by underlining their "shared interest" in the political situation there.

Courtesy: Bangkok Post