In Reuters interview exiled Thai leader offers no let-up in stand-off with govt

Reuters bagged the first foreign media interview for five months with former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra on April 19, just over a week after the most violent anti-government protests in the country since 1992. Thaksin, the self-exiled icon of the “red shirt” protests that have thrown Thailand into disarray, said that Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva must dissolve parliament immediately and call a snap election to end the stand-off between protesters and troops in Bangkok. Speaking on his mobile phone during a brief stopover in Brunei from Fiji, the fugitive former premier said that Abhisit’s resistance to the “red shirts” meant that he was planning a crackdown on the protesters or a coup. Days earlier, Thai bond yields fell to their lowest since late February after an April 15 Reuters interview with the finance minister reinforced speculation that the central bank would leave interest rates unchanged at its policy review the following week. The finance minister, Korn Chatikavanij, said the central bank would discuss the political and social unrest that has plagued Bangkok for more than a month, leading many to conclude that a long-expected monetary tightening could be delayed. Korn also told Reuters that Prime Minister Abhisit had no intention of bowing to street protesters’ demands to dissolve parliament and hold a snap election, and said he was not concerned that the political uncertainty was weakening the Thai baht. “A bit of softness, given that we are a net export country, that is not a bad thing.” he said.