No sign of end of Thai political crisis

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s party won a majority in snap elections, early results indicated today, although voters in Bangkok and southern Thailand cast a strong protest vote likely to inflame the country’s political crisis.

An opposition boycott of the poll left Thaksin’s ruling party uncontested in 278 of 400 constituencies for the lower house of Parliament, leaving little doubt from the start that the embattled prime minister would be returned to office.