Thai PM floats reconcilation plan with eye on elections

Bangkok: Thailand's prime minister appealed to the country yesterday to join a reconciliation effort aimed at mending political divisions and paving the way for elections after bloody anti-government protests.

"Hatred, vengeance and anger cannot build a future for Thailand and our posterity, it is time for us to reconcile to reform Thailand," Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said.

Southeast Asia's second-largest economy saw its latest bout of political convulsion from March to May when protesters occupied two parts of Bangkok including an affluent shopping district, calling for the government to call snap polls.The rallies spiralled into violence and clashes between soldiers and shadowy gunmen when troops moved in to dislodge the protesters, most of them poor rural and urban supporters of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

In all, 89 people were killed and more than 1,800 wounded.

Abhisit floated the reconciliation plan in early May at the height of the crisis but most protest leaders rejected it as inadequate.

"The prime minister will be inviting all Thais to join him because reconciliation cannot be achieved without them," Minister to the Prime Minister's Office Satit Wongnongtaey told reporters. The five-point plan includes a "national reform" agenda to address social injustice and economic disparity, a media reform plan to ensure independence, assessments of ways to amend a military-backed constitution, the establishment of a fact-finding commission into the violence, and protection of the country's most revered institution, the monarchy.

Consumer confidence

In May, Abhisit proposed November polls but he has backed off that, saying a peaceful vote was not possible in such a tense climate. He said last week an election early next year was possible if reconciliation went well. His term ends in 2012.The violence has dented economic growth, with tourism numbers in particular falling sharply.

But consumer confidence was up in May after three months of falls, according to a survey taken after the violence, lifted by easing political tension and stronger-than-expected growth in the first quarter when the economy expanded 3.8 per cent from the previous three months.

The opposition, however, dismissed Abhisit's plan as little more than an election ploy by his ruling Democrat party, saying reconciliation without Thaksin would not bring lasting peace.