Abhisit attends Grandma's funeral, red shirts keep away

Despite anxiety over  possible harassment by protesters, Abhisit arrived at the northeastern province and proceeded to the funeral without disruption.

Although many saw Abhisit's chartered flight as an attempt to evade protests, Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said his Democrat Party decided to shoulder the cost in order to allow the prime minister, who was on a tight schedule, to attend several functions in a day.

"The prime minister had no special instruction on his security other than ordering police not to confront protesters," Suthep said.

He said Abhisit wanted to pay his last respects to Grandma, seen as a beacon to bridge the political divide between the Democrats and the Isaan voters.

About 600 policemen were deployed to keep peace at the funeral although a threatened  political rally failed to materialise.

Speaking before leaving the capital, Abhisit reminded opponents they were obligated to abide by the law. He said his government was committed to forge reconciliation and asked rival camps to heed the advice of chief royal adviser General Prem Tinsulanonda, who said it was time to bury the hatchet.

The government will strive to reason with red-shirt crowds in order to reconcile differing views on what constitutes an ideal democracy, he said, alluding that his opponents too wanted to advance democratic principles.