GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Thailand’s first woman prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, was voted into office 3 July in a landslide victory but the promises of higher wages and a host of social improvements is prompting fears in the business world that inflation will rise. The country’s economic growth was strong in 2010, but inflation reached more than 4 percent (annual) in June and analysts say implementing even part of the promised package could have a significant impact on inflation in one of Asia’s most vibrant economies.
Shinawatra, sister of exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, is meeting with her party officials Wednesday to hammer out how to quickly implement some of the election promises.
Links to other sites: Bloomberg, Reuters, Wall St Journal
Thailand’s prime minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, has told the nation on television 15 March that he will not give in to demands by tens of thousands of red shirt protestors that he resign today, insisting that changes must be the result of elections where voices of people other than the protestors have a chance to be heard. The protestors gathered outside the army barracks Monday where Vejjajiva had gone when a rally with an estimated (BBC numbers) 100,000 took place Sunday, but he left in a helicopter shortly after his TV appearance.
The red shirts back former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who has remained abroad following a two-year prison sentence for abuse of power, which he and his supporters say was politically motivated.
Opposition group UDD leader Natthawut Saikua responded by saying 1,000 litres of blood will be taken from donors Tuesday and spread outside Government House to force government workers to walk across a bloody trail.
Links to other sites: Bangkok Post, BBC,
Former Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej has died in a Bangkok hospital after a year-long bout with cancer, his former secretary reported 24 November. While in government, he was accused of corruption for having accepted payment for a tv show on which he cooked and commented on national affairs. He had presented the show many times in the past, but not while he was prime minister.
Samak became prime minister in 2007 after street protests that led to the ousting of Thaksin Shinawatra as prime minister in 2006. His government was widely accused of being a stand-in for the ousted Thaksin, and street protests resumed. He was forced out of office after a court ruling found him guilty of conflict of interest.
Tensions are rising sharply between Cambodia and Thailand, with Cambodia refusing Wednesday 11 Novmber a demand for extradition from Thailand for Thai former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Thailand is now reviewing its cooperation agreements with Cambodia. Thaksin was to stand trial on corruption charges in Thailand when he fled the country in 2008, saying the trial was politically motivated. Cambodia has said that it does not consider the charges valid because they are politically motivated, but it limited its response to the extradition request to a simple refusal without explanation, according to local media. The BBC’s reporter in Bangkok reports that Thaksin and Cambodia’s Hun Sen are golf partners and close friends.
Links to other sites: Bangkok Post, BBC, Independent, UK,
Thailand’s former prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, has arrived in Phnom Penh to take up a job as economic advisor to Cambodia. The wealthy businessman’s arrival Tuesday 10 November in the Cambodian capital prompted Thailand to suspend its cooperation agreement with Cambodia in protest. The latest move in worsening relations between the two as a result of the job offer to Thaksin follows Thailand’s removal of its ambassador last week. It has also suspended a memorandum of understanding that covers a shared waterway. A Thai government spokesperson says the government will issue an extradition order to Cambodia for Thaksin, who served two terms as prime minister before he was deposed in 2006 and charged with corruption in 2008.
