ABHISIT TO FOCUS ON ECONOMY NOT ELECTION
LONDON: Thailand's prime minister on Thursday ruled out a snap election to resolve a long-running political crisis and said a week-long street campaign would not deflect the government from staving off an economic slowdown.Thousands of supporters of ex-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra have camped outside Government House since last Thursday in a bid to force out Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and trigger new elections.
"We think at the moment the country is better served with stability, with the government addressing the immediate needs of the people against the impact of the economic crisis," Abhisit told Reuters on the sidelines of the Group of 20 (G20) summit in London where he represented regional grouping ASEAN.
Abhisit, who was elected by Thai legislators in December, said the protesters have had minimal impact on his government so far. "So long as people want to exercise their constitutional right (to protest) within limits of the law, they are entitled to do so. We've had big protests over the last couple of months without any violence and without any disruptions and we think that would continue to be the case," said the 44-year-old Oxford graduate.
Abhisit said the government was preparing for a second round of stimulus measures that included public infrastructure works that would help bring the economy back into positive growth by the end of the year.The economy is expected to shrink 2-3 percent this year according to several forecasts and the Asian Development Bank said this week that political instability -- sparked off in 2006 after the ousting of former telecoms billionaire Thaksin in a bloodless coup -- could delay the implementation of government stimulus measures.
Courtesy: The Star Online
THAI ARMY CHIEF TELLS PM TO CALL ELECTION TO END CRISIS
BANGKOK - Thailand's army chief stepped in Wednesday to end a spiraling political crisis, telling the prime minister to call new elections and ordering protesters to end their siege of Bangkok's main airport.
General Anupong Paojinda denied he was staging a coup, but with the airport and government offices now in the control of demonstrators and lawlessness spreading he said premier Somchai Wongsawat should dissolve parliament.
The plight of thousands of foreign tourists left stranded at the three-billion-dollar Suvarnabhumi Airport underlined the turmoil threatening Thailand's vital tourism industry and hitting the economy.
"We will send him (Somchai) a letter to inform that he must dissolve the house and call new elections," Anupong told a news conference after an urgent meeting of military and business leaders to address the crisis.
"This is not a coup," the army chief said, dressed in his uniform. "The government still has full authority. These points are the way to solve the problem which has plunged the country into a deep crisis."
"As army chief, if I launch a coup the problems would be solved once and for all. But there would be a lot of consequences including the international reaction," he added.
Somchai arrived home from a foreign trip about an hour after the army chief spoke out but the premier -- the brother-in-law of ousted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra -- said he had made no decision on elections.
"I don't know... I have not yet made any decision," Somchai told reporters at the airport in the northern city of Chiang Mai, where his flight was diverted amid the chaos, before being whisked away by aides.
The People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) -- a coalition of royalists, Bangkok's old elite and the middle class that wants to topple the government -- stormed Suvarnabhumi Airport late Tuesday in a fresh twist to the crisis.
As they tightened their grip on the facility on Wednesday, two people were hurt in a blast at the airport and thousands of travellers were left in limbo on the third day of PAD's renewed protest campaign.
"The PAD must disperse immediately from every place they occupy," Anupong said.
Protest leaders quickly rejected the army chief's statement and said they would stay at the airport, where demonstrators began to take up positions inside the terminal after most passengers were finally evacuated.
"The solution is not the dissolution of parliament. If premier Somchai (Wongsawat) resigns then we will talk again about whether we will negotiate," core PAD leader Pibhop Dhongchai said at the terminal.
The alliance launched its campaign in May, accusing Somchai's government of being a corrupt puppet of the charismatic Thaksin, who was toppled in a 2006 coup and remains in exile after being convicted in absentia for corruption.
Its latest actions infuriated tourists at Suvarnabhumi -- a hub for travel throughout Southeast Asia -- which remained shut on Wednesday, with airport director Saereerat Prasutanont saying 3,000 people were still there.
Angry travellers had earlier began leaving on buses provided by airport authorities, but some remained.
"I went to ask the staff at the counters but no one was there. Then I didn't know that they had buses for the tourists so I am still stuck here," said Andre Weise, 37-year-old tourist from Germany.
As the passengers trickled out of the airport -- the world's 17th busiest -- many of the 8,000 PAD demonstrators who had been rallying outside entered the terminal moved in, setting up makeshift food stalls and floor mats.
The government has tried to avoid a repeat of clashes between protesters and police on October 7 that left two people dead and nearly 500 injured, but it has merely fuelled its problems.
Somchai's administration has been effectively paralysed since protesters occupied the prime ministerial offices in central Bangkok in August, forcing him to work from makeshift premises at the old Don Mueang airport.
VISITORS GEOFLAGS SINCE AUGUST 26, 2009
