By Thanyarat Doksone BANGKOK (AP) — A car bomb explosion that slightly injured seven people on the popular resort island of Samui in southern Thailand may be linked to the country’s political turmoil, a spokesman for the military government said Saturday. Initial reports indicated that the attack late Friday was carried out by the same […]
Thai prime minister, an ex-general, is a millionaire
AP Wire Service BANGKOK (AP) — Asset disclosures by members of Thailand’s military-dominated post-coup Cabinet reveal they are quite well-off, a trait shared with the civilian politicians they accused of corruption. The National Anti-Corruption Commission on Friday released the asset declarations of the 33 Cabinet ministers, 25 of whom are millionaires in dollar terms.
With martial law, Thai gov’t nearly powerless
By Todd Pitman Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) – The question to Thailand’s army chief was a basic one. After he declared martial law this week, would he be consulting the government? His response encapsulated the increasingly surreal nature of this Southeast Asian country’s political crisis.
Thai police clash with protesters; four dead — Prime minister in jeopardy of impeachment
By Thanyarat Koksone Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) – Gunbattles broke out Tuesday, Feb. 18, as hundreds of riot police made their strongest attempt to clear anti-government protest sites around Thailand’s capital, leaving at least four people dead and 64 others injured.
Thai Senate kills contentious amnesty bill
By Thanyarat Doksone Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) – Thailand’s Senate has defeated an amnesty bill that could have led to the return from exile of deposed former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, but opponents of the bill vowed to continue their protests against the government.
Thailand’s former Prime Minister Thaksin plans early return from exile
By Grant Peck The Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — Exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra celebrated Thailand’s most important holiday in neighboring Cambodia this weekend, telling thousands of fervent supporters who crossed the border to meet him that he intends to return home soon on his own terms.
Sea of protesters demands new elections in Thailand
BANGKOK (AP) — As many as 100,000 people demonstrated peacefully against Thailand’s government at a rally last Sunday, but the capital was being kept on edge by their threat to continue protesting until Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva calls for new elections.
Thai riots halt after deaths; leaders face arrest
By Michael Casey The Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — Leaders of demonstrations that plunged the Thai capital into chaos called off their protests on April 14 after rioting killed two and injured more than 120. Police issued warrants for 14 people, including the ousted prime minister at the heart of three years of turmoil.
New Thai PM faces deep divisions, poor economy
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) — Thailand’s new prime minister faces the difficult task of unifying a country torn apart by months of violent anti-government protests — demonstrations that battered the key tourism industry just as the global economy was slipping into its worst crisis in decades.