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Thailand's foreign minister quits
Thailand's foreign minister has quit, local media reported on Wednesday, creating another challenge for Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej to deal with, a day after he invoked emergency rule against protesters seeking to unseat him.
- Agencies
- Published: 23:47 September 3, 2008
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Bangkok: Thailand's foreign minister has quit, local media reported on Wednesday, creating another challenge for Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej to deal with, a day after he invoked emergency rule against protesters seeking to unseat him.
Tej Bunnag, a retired diplomat appointed in July, resigned after completing his mission to repair relations with Cambodia after a temple row that forced out his predecessor, a television channel and news websites said.
Royal disapproval
Tej once served in King Bhumibol Adulyadej's principal private secretary's office, and his departure could be seen as the revered monarch expressing his reservations about Samak's administration.
News of the resignation came a day after Samak invoked emergency rule in Bangkok to quash intensifying street protests against his seven-month old administration.
"If it is true, it is another step toward the end of this falling government," Boonyakiat Karavekphan, analyst at Ramkhamhaeng University, said of Tej's reported resignation.
Samak, who has refused to bow to protesters occupying his official compound for nine days, declared emergency rule on Tuesday after clashes between his supporters and anti-government protesters killed a man and injured 45.
Hundreds of riot police were outside the Government House compound yesterday but made no move toward the thousands of protesters who are camped inside, singing and chanting anti-government slogans. The anti-government People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) - a motley coalition of businessmen, academics and activists who accuse Samak of being an illegitimate proxy of former Premier Thaksin Shinawatra - have vowed to stay until Samak steps down.
The PAD paints itself as a defender of the revered King and accuses Thaksin and the government of seeking to turn Thailand into a republic, charges they deny.
Strike failure
A public sector strike to pile pressure on the embattled prime minister failed to disrupt electricity, water and transport services in the city of 10 million people yesterday.
Thailand's biggest power producer, EGAT, said it was business as usual at its power plants as most staff showed up for work.
Bus routes were operating as normal, as well as the city's skytrain and underground subway.
Tour companies have reported cancellations since the protests intensified last week, hurting a tourism sector that generates the equivalent of 6 per cent of GDP and is a major employer.
Government annoyed
Army chief Anupong Paochinda's refusal to use force to evict thousands of protesters at Government House, despite a decree that banned public gatherings and gave his soldiers police powers, has annoyed the government.
"He is in neutral gear," a senior government source said.
"The government doesn't wholeheartedly believe the military would not interfere in politics. They are always looking for reasons to stage a coup," the source said.
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