Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra vowed yesterday to keep fighting against calls for his resignation, as one of his Cabinet ministers resigned ahead of a major protest planned for the weekend.
Meanwhile a new poll showed Thaksin's approval ratings have dropped amid public outcry over his family's sale of its share of the telecom giant that he founded, Shin Corp, for almost US$1.9 billion.
"I will go on fighting. There were 19 million people who voted for me," a teary-eyed Thaksin told supporters as he visited Bangkok's poorest slum.
He urged people not to attend Saturday's rally, where his rivals plan to petition the king to name a new prime minister.
"I told my supporters, people who love me, not to go to listen to those good liars. Please stay home," he said.
Thaksin's leading critic, media mogul Sondhi Limthongkul, expects tens of thousands of people at the rally.
Questions about the sale last week to Singapore's state-owned investment firm Temasek have prompted regulators to investigate Thaksin's two children, while sparking public anger for avoiding a 30 percent capital-gains tax.
The furore rattled Thaksin's Cabinet yesterday, as his Cultural Minister announced her resignation.
"Under the current circumstances I have wondered whether to quit or to stay. And now my final decision is to quit the Cabinet in order to preserve political ethics," Uraiwan Thienthong told a press conference.
Uraiwan is married to Sanoh Thienthong, who leads one of the major factions within Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai party.
Her resignation was the latest political fallout from the controversy, which has dragged down Thaksin's already sagging popularity.
A billionaire telecom tycoon, Thaksin swept to power five years ago promising to fight poverty and improve the lives of poor farmers.
His re-election one year ago gave him an absolute majority in parliament and made him the most powerful leader ever elected in Thailand.
But Shinawatra's popularity has suffered in recent months, especially among the urban middle class, amid growing concern about his crackdown on independent media, his failure to quell unrest in the Muslim-majority south, and the latest controversy over Shin Corp.
His family last week sold their nearly 50 percent stake in Shin Corp to Temasek.
Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday ruled that his two children were not guilty of insider trading, but his son could still face a hefty fine for failing to disclose all the details of the deal.
Thai police say they will deploy 4,500 officers at the rally, which Interior Minister Kongsak Vantana said he feared could turn violent.
"I am concerned for the safety of the public. I am afraid of third-party interference, and I still think that tens of thousands of demonstrators will attend," he said.
A poll released yesterday found that public confidence in Thaksin's government had dropped to the lowest point since the survey began 10 months ago.
Public confidence in the administration dipped to 97.6 points in January. Ratings below 100 indicate public disapproval of the government.
The Jan. 20-31 survey of 7,211 people by Suan Dusit University found that Thais are worried about the sale, allegations of government corruption, and unrest in the south that has left more than 1,000 dead.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia
ON ALERT: A Russian cruise missile crossed into Polish airspace for about 40 seconds, the Polish military said, adding that it is constantly monitoring the war to protect its airspace Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and the western region of Lviv early yesterday came under a “massive” Russian air attack, officials said, while a Russian cruise missile breached Polish airspace, the Polish military said. Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a series of deadly aerial attacks, with yesterday’s strikes coming a day after the Russian military said it had seized the Ukrainian village of Ivanivske, west of Bakhmut. A militant attack on a Moscow concert hall on Friday that killed at least 133 people also became a new flash point between the two archrivals. “Explosions in the capital. Air defense is working. Do not