Thailand's army chief told politicians that the country's revered king is displeased with the crisis over whether the prime minister should resign and wants it resolved quickly and peacefully, a spokesman said yesterday.
The comments by army commander General Sondhi Boonyaratkalin, who is believed to be well regarded by the royal palace, marked the first indication of King Bhumibol Adulyadej's stance on the political stalemate in Thailand.
The monarch has made no public comment on weeks of street protests and growing demands for Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to step down.
PHOTO: EPA
"His majesty is possibly not happy with the conflict and the disunity of his subjects," said military spokesman Lieutenant General Palangoon Klaharn, reiterating comments made by Sondhi late on Tuesday. "His majesty will be very happy if his subjects are unified and use peaceful means to resolve the problem."
The king has stepped in to resolve political crises in the past, most recently in 1992 after demonstrations toppled a military-backed government.
The campaign to force Thaksin from office gathered steam on Tuesday when the national police spokesman, General Archirawit Suphanaphesat, said he personally believes the only way to resolve the crisis is for Thaksin to resign. The comment marked a rare departure from the police force's official impartiality.
Tens of thousands of protesters have been holding regular street rallies in Bangkok, the capital, to demand Thaksin's resignation, accusing him of corruption and abuse of power.
The anti-Thaksin campaign swelled last month after the prime minister's family sold its controlling stake in telecom giant Shin Corp to Singapore's state-owned investment company, Temasek, netting 73.3 billion baht (US$1.9 billion).
Critics allege the sale involved insider trading and tax dodges and complain that a key national asset is now in the hands of a foreign government.
Several dozen protesters demonstrated on Tuesday outside the Singaporean Embassy, holding posters that read "Thailand is not for sale," and asking the Singaporean government to cancel Temasek's purchase of the Shin stake.
Protesters have said they will rally every night until Thaksin resigns.
Thaksin has repeatedly said he would never bow to anti-government protesters.
Meanwhile, the political crisis is causing family strife with arguments breaking out in homes over whether Thaksin should resign, a new survey shows.
Some disputes are even degenerating into violence, with loved ones throwing things at each other, the survey said.
Amid anti-government protests and an early election called for April 2, the growing political tension has prompted heated arguments in 71.8 percent of families, according to an ABAC University poll published on Tuesday.
The survey found that 14.5 percent of arguments led to family members causing physical injury to each other and 9.7 percent of clashes resulting in relatives throwing objects at each other.
The political situation has been the top news story for weeks, and 76.1 percent said they followed the news daily.
The survey of 1,218 Bangkok residents over the age of 18 was conducted by pollsters who went door-to-door between last Thursday and Monday, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percent.
Australians were downloading virtual private networks (VPNs) in droves, while one of the world’s largest porn distributors said it was blocking users from its platforms as the country yesterday rolled out sweeping online age restriction. Australia in December became the first country to impose a nationwide ban on teenagers using social media. A separate law now requires artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot services to keep certain content — including pornography, extreme violence and self-harm and eating disorder material — from minors or face fines of up to A$49.5 million (US$34.6 million). The country also joined Britain, France and dozens of US states requiring
Hungarian authorities temporarily detained seven Ukrainian citizens and seized two armored cars carrying tens of millions of euros in cash across Hungary on suspicion of money laundering, officials said on Friday. The Ukrainians were released on Friday, following their detention on Thursday, but Hungarian officials held onto the cash, prompting Ukraine to accuse Hungary’s Russia-friendly government of illegally seizing the money. “We will not tolerate this state banditism,” Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said. The seven detained Ukrainians were employees of the Ukrainian state-owned Oschadbank, who were traveling in the two armored cars that were carrying the money between Austria and
Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani on Friday after dissolving the Kosovar parliament said a snap election should be held as soon as possible to avoid another prolonged political crisis in the Balkan country at a time of global turmoil. Osmani said it is important for Kosovo to wrap up the upcoming election process and form functional institutions for political stability as the war rages in the Middle East. “Precisely because the geopolitical situation is that complex, it is important to finish this electoral process which is coming up,” she said. “It is very hard now to imagine what will happen next.” Kosovo, which declared
MORE BANS: Australia last year required sites to remove accounts held by under-16s, with a few countries pushing for similar action at an EU level and India considering its own ban Indonesia on Friday said it would ban social media access for children under 16, citing threats from online pornography, cyberbullying, online fraud and Internet addiction. “Accounts belonging to children under 16 on high-risk platforms will start to be deactivated, beginning with YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live and Roblox,” Indonesian Minister of Communications and Digital Meutya Hafid said. “The government is stepping in so that parents no longer have to fight alone against the giants of the algorithm. Implementation will begin on March 28, 2026,” she said. The social media ban would be introduced in stages “until all platforms fulfill their
RSS