Thailand’s PM prays as country grinds to a halt

THAILAND’S prime minister attended a Buddhist ritual yesterday, seemingly indifferent to a deepening political crisis that has paralysed his government, shut down two main airports and stranded 300,000 foreigners.

The crisis is draining millions of dollars from the country’s economy even as prime minister Somchai Wongsawat appears powerless to remove anti-government protesters who have occupied the airports for the past week. He has refused to send in police to evict them for fear of bloodshed, instead making weak pleas for the protesters to go home.

The protesters have vowed to stay until Somchai steps down, but he has refused.

Neither the army, a key player in Thai politics, nor the king has offered Somchai the firm backing he needs to resolve the crisis.

With no end to the deadlock in sight, many Thais hoped a court ruling could resolve the crisis.

A constitutional court is set to decide whether Somchai and others in his party committed electoral fraud — a move that would see him banned from politics and his party dissolved.

Even if that scenario comes to pass and the protesters disperse, it is expected to take at least another week before the airports become operational again.

The airport closure has severed all commercial flights in and out of the capital, forcing thousands to cancel their vacations during peak tourist season, and halted vital postal air services, preventing the arrival of everything from specialised medicines to raw fish for Bangkok’s Japanese restaurants.

Somchai has been working out of Chiang Mai since last Wednesday, saying he wants to avoid a confrontation with the People’s Alliance for Democracy, the group that has been campaigning since May to topple his government.

Yesterday, Somchai went to a temple in the northern city to prayed for the health of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the country’s constitutional monarch who celebrates his 81st birthday on Friday.

Asked about the crisis, he told reporters: “The authorities are working in line with due process, but we have to depend on police, soldiers and civil servants.”

The protesters accuse Somchai of being a puppet of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the alliance’s original target. Thaksin, who is Somchai’s brother-in-law, was deposed in a 2006 military coup and has fled the country to escape corruption charges.

Meanwhile, Irish people in Thailand have been urged to register immediately with the Department of Foreign Affairs. A spokesperson for the department said it needs to get an accurate picture of the number of people stranded in the country before it can develop a strategy to get people home.

Additional staff have been sent from the Irish embassy in Kuala Lumpur to help people organise alternative travel arrangements.

The spokesperson said the department was working closely with its EU partners and monitoring the situation.

* Irish people stranded in the country can register their details online at www.dfa.ie.