Thailand to convene emergency meeting over recent attack

Thailand's interior minister said yesterday he had "no idea" how to curb unrest in the nation's Muslim-majority south, as the government arranged for an emergency meeting following a deadly hotel attack.

"I must say I have no idea how to solve this problem," Interior Minister Chalerm Yubamrung told reporters, saying the insurgency stemmed from Muslim feelings of discrimination by mainly Buddhist Thailand.

"The southern unrest is a very serious problem. It's about their religion and their beliefs, and their grievances about discrimination," he said.

Chalerm said Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej will hold an emergency meeting with security officials on Friday following the weekend hotel attack.

Two people were killed and 10 others injured on Saturday when a car bomb exploded in the parking lot of a smart hotel that had been considered a safe zone for business and political leaders visiting the province of Pattani.

The conflict is entering its fifth year, but Thailand has made little visible progress even in identifying the people or groups behind the attacks.

No group has claimed responsibility for the violence, which has killed nearly 3,000 people since early 2004, and the government has yet to publicly identify any of the militancy's leadership.

While the previous military government launched a raft of peace-building measures, almost daily shootings and bomb attacks continued to rock the region.

Meanwhile, Thai election officials yesterday asked the Supreme Court to consider vote fraud charges against the speaker of parliament, setting the stage for a legal battle that could see him sacked.

The judges said they would decide on Thursday whether to accept the case, which accuses Yongyut Tiyapairat of bribing local officials in northern Thailand to campaign for his People Power Party in December elections.

Yongyut, a close ally of ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra, has denied the charges. He has suspended his duties at parliament since the charges were unveiled in late last month.