Asia

Home page

Asia

Thai PM gives army extended powers

16 April 2010 18:17 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Friday made his army chief the head of national security in a bid to streamline operations as anti-government protesters massed in the streets calling for his downfall, APA reports quoting â€œReutersâ€.
Army chief General Anupong Paochinda will replace Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban, Abhisit said, admitting that efforts to rein in the protests had failed six days after violent clashes killed 24 people.
"We have reached a consensus today to treat all terrorist acts as special cases, which will facilitate in speeding up legal proceedings that we need to take," he said in a televised address.
"The unsuccessful efforts taken so far in enforcing law have prompted us to review structural issues."
The government has promised to crack down on what it terms "terrorists" whom it blames for Saturday’s killings. Abhisit also admitted efforts to arrest some red shirt leaders on Friday had failed.
Red shirts protesters have gathered at a hotel and shopping center in the middle of the city, now the main protest encampment which they have occupied for a month.
Abhisit has been absent from the public eye since Monday.
The government, which had previously said it would not directly confront the protesters, has also stepped up the rhetoric, although no troops were seen on Bangkok streets.
"We will arrest and suppress the terrorists. We have set up special task forces hunting for the terrorists," Suthep said before launching the attempt to snatch opposition leaders.
At least 24 people were killed and more than 800 wounded in Saturday’s clashes, Thailand’s worst political violence since 1992, which only appears to have hardened the four-year political impasse and raised the possibility of more bloodshed.
STOCKS FALL
The risk of further instability sent Thai stocks down 3.25 percent. The market has now lost almost all its gains this year.
"Under the current uncertain situation, we recommend investors to stay along the sidelines at the moment as we could see a possibility of another 5 percent drop in the near term," Julius Baer Research said in a note to clients on Friday.
The $33 million LionGlobal Thailand Fund said it was "positive on the long-term outlook for the Thai market, overweighting the banking sector which is expected to benefit from the domestic economic recovery through higher loan growth and lower loan provisions."
Tourism has taken a hit, with occupancy rates less than a third of normal levels in Bangkok, according to a tour operator body.
Morgan Stanley said in a report that losses to tourism, which accounts for 6 percent of gross domestic product, could clip 0.2 percentage point from economic growth this year.
The government says Thailand’s economy could grow 4.5 percent this year, but Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij warned that forecast could prove optimistic.
Thailand’s five-year credit default swaps (CDS), often used as a measure of political risk, were trading at 111/116.85 against 105/111 bps on Monday, the last trading day prior to a three-day holiday.
The red shirts back Thaksin, who was ousted in a 2006 coup, and want Abhisit to step down immediately and call early elections. The government has offered December -- possibly October -- as poll dates. The powerful military chief this week also suggested early polls to resolve the crisis.
Korn told Reuters on Thursday Abhisit would not resign as it would "be very negative for the country."