Word: bangkok
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...defensive, questioning with mounting intensity whether he's good for Thailand. To reaffirm his popularity, Thaksin has called a snap general election for April 2?a vote that the main opposition parties say they will boycott. When the Prime Minister kicked off his campaign at a rally in Bangkok on March 3, he looked uncharacteristically tentative, at one point even pleading with the opposition to take part in the election. "I don't want to be a troublemaker," he said, his voice scratchy and dark circles under his eyes. "People can have different ideas, but please don't split...
...Thailand is indeed divided. While the hinterland, where 70% of the country's 65 million people live, still seems squarely behind Thaksin, Bangkok's urban ?lite accuses him of everything from abuse of power to mismanagement of the ethnic violence in the impoverished, Muslim-dominated south. The tipping point was the announcement in January that Thaksin's family had sold its 49.6% stake in the telecommunications giant Shin Corp. for $1.87 billion to a group led by Temasek Holdings, the Singapore government's investment arm. The sale has infuriated many Thais. It means that one of Thailand's corporate crown...
...Last Friday the Securities and Exchange Commission fined Thaksin's son Panthongtae $150,000 for not disclosing changes in his Shin holdings dating back to 2001. The authorities say the Prime Minister has broken no law, but the controversy over the Shin deal refuses to die, and Bangkok has been rocked by street protests drawing tens of thousands clamoring for him to step down. By calling an election, Thaksin is turning to the people to pass judgment on him, and their verdict would likely be to return him and his party to power, albeit with a smaller majority...
...CHAMLONG SRIMUANG Former governor of Bangkok and leader of a "Dharma Army" of barefoot Buddhists opposed to Thaksin The people hoped Thaksin would lead our country in the right way and solve our problems. And in his first three years as Prime Minister he did very well. But in the last two years, he hasn't been the same. I have decided that it's no good for him to be in this position [of Prime Minister]. It's not only I, but the educated people around the country. Thaksin has been cleared of any legal wrongdoing regarding the sale...
DISSOLVED. THAILAND'S PARLIAMENT, by King Bhumibol Adulyadej, at the request of Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra; in order to call new elections; in Bangkok. While Thaksin's opponents have railed against his family's tax-free $1.9 billion windfall from the sale of Shin Corp., the telecom giant he founded, the Prime Minister still enjoys strong support among rural Thais. Elections for a new House of Representatives will take place on April...