Thai King Calls For Unity As Tensions Grow

[churchill]

Thai King Calls For Unity As Tensions Grow

BANGKOK: —Thailand's widely revered king warned that the country could collapse if its feuding political factions do not unite, as the government braced for fresh street protests, reports said Saturday.

King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 81, made a rare speech to an audience at his seaside palace late Friday that was later broadcast on national television and radio and reported by Thai-language newspapers.

"Recently I feel that our country could fail, because nobody is working in harmony. They are competing with each other and no one understands what the other is doing," the king said.

"I want to assure you that if everybody who is competent and has good intentions works together then we can make our country truly prosperous. So I ask all of you to cooperate, because if you don't our country will fall," he said.

"Our country will not collapse if everybody works together, especially all knowledgeable people," he said.

They were the king's first public comments since making a similar call for unity while swearing in Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva in December. He failed to make his traditional birthday eve speech the same month, citing poor health.

His speech came less than a week after Thailand's so-called "Red Shirt" protesters submitted a 3.5-million-name petition seeking a royal pardon for fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

Thaksin was ousted in a military coup in 2006 and fled the country last year to avoid a two-year jail term for corruption. His supporters were toppled from government in December after months of protests by rival "Yellow Shirts."

Abhisit says the petition is unlawful. His government has faced a string of protests by the Red Shirts, including mass riots in April which derailed a key Asian summit and forced him to declare a state of emergency in Bangkok.

The pro-Thaksin protest movement has called for fresh demonstrations on August 30 to press Abhisit to quit and dissolve parliament to pave the way for new elections.

-- inquirer.net 2009-08-22

[nickynomates]

All we can do is hope.

[rajuismythainame]

i think every country have King like this ...

he is great

my support with thailand country always

[cdnvic]

This is an important news item, and members I'm sure are interested to hear what His Majesty had to say in his speech. However, discussing the Royal Family and politics together is forbidden in the forum rules, and in fact Thai law. For that reason we are closing the topic to discussion, but will leave it pinned for a day or so for informational purposes. Updates will be posted by Thaivisa moderators if they occur.

[cdnvic]

PM urges Thais to heed King's concerns

BANGKOK, Aug 22 (TNA) - Acknowledging concerns expressed by His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej over the lack of unity and cooperation among his subjects, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Saturday urged Thais to help solve problems facing Thailand.

Everyone must cooperate so that difficult problems could be solved, said Mr. Abhisit.

“The government has been asking for cooperation from every sector and this is the direction which I use in administering the country,” he said.

The revered King on Friday expressed his concern in his speech given to members of the National Research Council of Thailand that the country is “falling into ruin” and moving without direction due to the lack of cooperation among different sectors of society, but people could still save it from sinking further.

On plans by anti-government United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) to demonstrate next Sunday (August 30) to pressure the coalition government to dissolve the lower house, Mr. Abhisit said the UDD should not create any more trouble to the country as several problems are being solved, especially the national economy which is now heading toward improvement.

UDD leaders on Friday threatened to rally that day to pressure the prime minister to dissolve the House of Representatives, otherwise the group would collect up to 10 million signatures to impeach him.

United Front leader Nuttawut Saikua said the group’s August 30 rally will start at 1pm at Bangkok’s Royal Plaza on Rajdamnoen Nok Road and will move to Government House to demand that Prime Minister Abhisit dissolve the House of Representatives due to his government’s poor performance and alleged corruption in the community development project.

Mr Nattawut claimed that the delayed appointment of a new national police chief on Thursday proved that the premier lacked leadership and is a ‘puppet’ leader put into office by behind the scenes powers, and that he himself lacks power. (TNA)

Political News : Last Update : 15:51:32 22 August 2009 (GMT+7:00)

-- TNA 22 Aug

via Churchill (Thanks)