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Published on September 25, 2007

"The election is of the highest concern for my government. We might not be able to eliminate money politics in this election but I can guarantee it will be a transparent one," the PM told representatives of the Thai community in the US.

Surayud is in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, at which a key objective is to build confidence among the international community about the restoration of democracy in Thailand.

"I have told all the world leaders I have met that we are heading toward democracy and they understand our direction," he said.

"What we have done [over the past year] is to ask for a time-out to correct our game."

World leaders may dislike and disagree with the coup, but understood what Thailand had done to fix the political crisis and misconduct of the previous government, he said.

The government also regarded the crisis in the restive South as a priority and the only solution is to restore peace and justice. "Injustice is the root cause of the violence in the deep South. If the government fails to bring justice to the people, militants will employ this as a pretext to mobilise support for their movement," he said.

The first task in bringing justice to the predominantly Muslim region would be to revamp the structure of the police force but Surayud admitted that his government could not overhaul the whole structure of the national police.

"My government can do only parts of this because the police themselves resist change," he said.

There was a proposal to transfer the national police office to the jurisdiction of the Justice Ministry rather than the Prime Minister's Office.

"The police say they don't want to be under politicians but I don't understand their logic, as the prime minister is also a politician. I don't think it is good for the prime minister to have direct control of the police force," he said.

While in New York, Surayud would also have the opportunity to explain his task of restoring democracy and building confidence among government and business leaders of foreign countries.

He will chair a high-level meeting on climate change, meet with the US-Asean Business Council and David Rockefeller, deliver a speech at the Asia Society and join a dinner hosted by US President George W Bush.

The prime minister will deliver his speech at the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday.

Supalak G Khundee

The Nation

New York