Embattled Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra yesterday vowed to stay on and fight the country’s deadly flood crisis, despite criticism of her handling of the disaster.
“People supported and voted for me, so I want to continue my work to the best of my ability,” Yingluck told reporters when asked whether she was considering resigning.
The floods, triggered by months of unusually heavy rains, have killed 533 people, and damaged the homes and livelihoods of millions around the country.
Photo: EPA
The waters are now slowly closing in on the heart of Bangkok, a city of 12 million people, swamping major roads and threatening the downtown area’s luxury hotels, businesses and shopping malls.
Visiting a shelter for flood evacuees in Bangkok’s Chatuchak district, Yingluck pleaded for understanding from the public.
“Everybody has worked to their utmost ability. It’s a natural disaster which other countries also failed to prevent,” she said. “I want to ask for sympathy for all the officials who are working to fight the floodwaters and as for me, I will do my best and will listen to all suggestions.”
Yingluck, a political novice and sister of fugitive former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who only came to power in August, has been under enormous pressure to tackle the three-month-old crisis.
She has at times shown the strain and opponents have accused her of lacking leadership.
Her administration has also come under fire for its confusing information about the rising waters.
The 44-year-old prime minister has shown signs of emotional strain in recent weeks, but she hit back at critics who chided her for appearing teary-eyed during visits to flood-hit zones.
“My tears flow not because I am weak — otherwise I would not have come this far. I would have quit a long time ago,” she said on her way to another evacuation center later in the day.
“It’s normal to feel overwhelmed when I see people suffering,” she said.
After three months in office, Yingluck’s government scored an approval rating of about 48 percent, according to a nationwide survey of 1,168 people published by Bangkok University on Tuesday.
“So far, she has run the country without direction or decisiveness,” said Chavanond Intarakomalyasut, a spokesman for the main opposition Democrat Party, which has stopped short of calling for Ying-luck’s resignation.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in