TCC's PM jink back for a second year

Abhisit Vejjajiva has been advised to cancel his visit to Chiang Mai this weekend out of concern for his safety, after the red shirts called for a mass protest

Last year, due to the yellow shirts' protest, then-PM Somchai Wongsawat did not make it to the 26th annual conference in Songkhla's Hat Yai district.

In case Abhisit's trip is eventually cancelled, the TCC is planning to use videoconferencing to link his speech to representatives from 75 provinces.

A special security plan is also being drawn up, and it overshadows the chamber's annual meeting agenda, which focuses on economic problems and proposed plans to boost the country's economic prospects.

Vice chairman Phongsak Assakul said the TCC expected no violence to occur during the 27th annual assembly.

People should separate the political conflict from the business issue, he said.

Abhisit is scheduled to speak at the closing ceremony of the event to be held from Friday to Sunday at the Le Meridien Hotel in Chiang Mai, the political stronghold of ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra.