PM calls Lop Buri visit a success

Abhisit tried to showcase his Lop Buri trip while recording his weekly address en route.

"My Cabinet members and I will try to meet fellow Thai citizens in the next couple of weeks to follow up on policy implementation and assess the situation in each locality," he said in the address aired yesterday by Channel 11 and Radio Thailand.

He emphasised that his government wanted to directly solicit people's opinions on his government's policies.

He said he viewed his trip as a success as he had received positive feedback from the people. He added that he had the chance to explain his government's policies to his constituents.

He also touched on the problems of violence and crimes committed against women, marking International Women's Day.

He urged media professionals to exercise caution in presenting stories and pictures deemed sensitive to victims and gender-related issues.

He said his government was fully committed to promote the participation of women in the decision-making process.

Speaking to reporters after the broadcast of his address, the prime minister said he was pleased with the response from the people and that the situation was under control in spite of the noisy rally by the red shirts.

He said the red shirts remained peaceful even though some of them threw water bottles at his motorcade.

"It was a very hot day and some red shirts might have lost their temper because they had to stand under the scorching sun for a long time," he said.

The PM said he remained optimistic that the opposition red-shirt movement would not spiral out of control.

Interior Minister Chaovarat Chanweerakul said provincial authorities in Lop Buri and elsewhere could still rein in the situation and prevent it from degenerating into violence.

Chaovarat said he would not reprimand the authorities for the noisy protests by the red shirts because he viewed the opposition movement as a normal development under a democracy.

He said his only concern was about the eruption of violence and the government had given strict instructions to local authorities to take pre-emptive measures to avoid violence.

Abhisit's spokesman Thepthai Senpong said the prime minister's trip to Lop Buri was satisfactory even though the red shirts tried to disrupt it by throwing things at the motorcade.

Thepthai said the government was determined to complete the inspection trips by Cabinet members to every province.

Pheu Thai Party spokesman Prompong Nopparit said the government's publicity blitz could not cover up its poor performance.

Prompong said the Democrats were about to repeat the mistake of escalating public debt regardless of their lessons during the Asian financial crisis in 1997.

The Democrats left the country under a mountain of debt incurred to revitalise the economy, he said, adding that presently they have announced plans to borrow Bt270 billion from foreign creditors.

"Just 60 days in power, the Democrats have done nothing but pile up debt for every Thai citizen," he said.

He called on the government to adhere to fiscal discipline and not bankrupt the country.

Pheu Thai MP Wisuth Chaikarun claimed that the opposition movement against the Democrats was growing across the country.

Wisuth wryly said that the government should stop sending its ministers.