Thailand appears back to 'normal': PM
Monday, 31 May 2010
BANGKOK, May 30 (AFP): Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Sunday the country appeared to be back to 'normal' after the lifting of a curfew imposed in the wake of deadly anti-government protests.
The premier cancelled the curfew Saturday but said emergency rule was still necessary after two months of mass rallies by 'Red Shirt' demonstrators that paralysed the capital and left almost 90 people dead.
"The situation last night was normal. Authorities will keep an eye though, then we'll consider lifting the state of emergency," Abhisit said in his weekly television address.
The Reds' street rallies, broken up on May 19 in an army crackdown on their encampment in Bangkok's Ratchaprasong commercial district, sparked outbreaks of violence that left 88 people dead, mostly civilians, and nearly 1,900 injured.
In an address Saturday to foreign diplomats, Abhisit said Thailand needed to "rebuild the social and economic compact between people and the government," but defended the crackdown.
"I can say that when we took that Ratchaprasong intersection, we took Bangkok back for the people," Abhisit said in the speech, which was broadcast Sunday.
"No matter what their political views may be, I'm still confident that the majority of our people are peaceful and moderate and they were stunned and dismayed" by recent events, he said.
The premier cancelled the curfew Saturday but said emergency rule was still necessary after two months of mass rallies by 'Red Shirt' demonstrators that paralysed the capital and left almost 90 people dead.
"The situation last night was normal. Authorities will keep an eye though, then we'll consider lifting the state of emergency," Abhisit said in his weekly television address.
The Reds' street rallies, broken up on May 19 in an army crackdown on their encampment in Bangkok's Ratchaprasong commercial district, sparked outbreaks of violence that left 88 people dead, mostly civilians, and nearly 1,900 injured.
In an address Saturday to foreign diplomats, Abhisit said Thailand needed to "rebuild the social and economic compact between people and the government," but defended the crackdown.
"I can say that when we took that Ratchaprasong intersection, we took Bangkok back for the people," Abhisit said in the speech, which was broadcast Sunday.
"No matter what their political views may be, I'm still confident that the majority of our people are peaceful and moderate and they were stunned and dismayed" by recent events, he said.