Tough stand against S'pore proves popular
Army Commander-in-Chief General Sonthi Boonyaratglin presides over the Trooping of the Colours for Army Day at the 11th Infantry Regiment yesterday.
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The Thai public supports the Surayud government's strong reaction against Singapore for permitting ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to meet a top senior official, and many believe the city-state should apologise, a poll has found.
Thailand moved on Tuesday to indefinitely suspend all high-level meetings with Singapore, including a ministerial dialogue next month, to protest against the city-state's insensitivity to Thailand's political situation. More than 64 per cent of respondents to the Abac poll said they agreed with the Thai government's reaction, while 18 per cent disagreed. The rest had no comment. Almost 56 per cent of those surveyed said Singapore should apologise to Thailand for allowing Thaksin to meet Singaporean deputy premier S Jayakumar and to use the island-state as a base to attack the new government through interviews with several international media outlets. However, some 22 per cent of respondents said Singapore should not make an apology. The remainder, 22.5 per cent, made no comment on the matter. Assumption University's Abac Poll surveyed 1,572 people in and around Bangkok on Tuesday and Wednesday to gauge public feelings about the retaliatory measures against Singapore. A total of 57 per cent of those surveyed believed Thaksin met the Singaporean deputy premier for some political purpose. But 23 per cent of respondents rejected the idea. Almost 80 per cent of respondents said the issue was serious, while 10 per cent said it was not serious. The rest, 13 per cent, had no comment.
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