Friday, 10 October 2008

Embattled Thai premier to visit neighbours

THE EARTH TIMES

Thu, 09 Oct 2008
Author : DPA

Bangkok - Embattled Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawak will visit Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar next week despite problems at home, foreign ministry sources said Thursday.

Somchai, who was appointed premier on September 25, will visit Laos on Sunday, Cambodia on Monday and Myanmar on Wednesday, the Thai Foreign Ministry announced.

He has scheduled similar one-day visits to Singapore and Indonesia in the near future, said a ministry official.

Somchai has had a tempestuous first week in office.

Anti-government protestors stormed Parliment on Tuesday in an effort to prevent Somchai from reading out his government's policy statement, a first step towards legitimizing any new administration.

Although the protestors, followers of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), failed to prevent Somchai from entering Parliament and launching his rule, he had to flee the parliament compound later in the day by jumping a fence and hopping on a helicopter.

Somchai has come under heavy criticism for allowing police to fire tear gas canisters at the demonstrators, leading to a bloody clash between police and PAD members Tuesday that left two dead and more than 400 injured.

The PAD is staunchly opposed to the return to power of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra who was toppled by a coup on September 19, 2006. Somchai is Thaksin's brother-in-law.

Despite the rocky start for his government, Somchai has vowed to keep all of Thailand's international commitments, including playing host to the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in mid-December.

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