Friday, August 25, 2006

Thai PM alleges assassination attempt

According to the BBC the Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has alleged that there was a plot to kill him. Police found a car with bomb making materials near to his house and he alleges that this was part of a plot by Thai military officers to kill him. Apparently a former army officer has been arrested and the PM has sacked the head of Thailand's main counter-insurgency operation.

Meanwhile his opponents are suggesting that there was no such plot and that this was an attempt to gain sympathy and to divert attention away from his problems.

Thailand goes to the polls again on October 15th and I am hoping that there is a fair election with a peaceful outcome which is accepted by everybody. This latest incident does not augur well though and the danger is that if Thai Rak Thai and the opposition parties are still at loggerheads after the next election the military may decide to take matters into their own hands. At that point I suspect that the stance of King Bhumibol will be critical.

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