Abhisit vows progress on democracy: PM TANGLES WITH CRITIC AT OXFORD

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva yesterday tried to allay international concern about the future of Thailand, promising democracy will move forward.


WAR OF WORDS: Giles Ungphakorn, left, and Mr Abhisit.


"I can't tell how fast democracy in Thailand will move forward. The experience of Western countries has shown that it took centuries.

"The point is Thai democracy will no longer be moving backward," he said in a speech on democracy delivered at St John's College at Oxford University.

During the prime minister's visit to his old university there was a brief confrontation with left-wing academic Giles Ungphakorn, who fled Thailand for the UK after being charged with lese majeste in January.

During a question and answer session, Mr Giles accused the government of using the lese majeste law to protect the administration and military. But the prime minister argued that it was never used to charge anyone without grounds.

Wearing red, the former Chulalongkorn University political scientist greeted Mr Abhisit with a foot clapper when the prime minister was introduced to the audience, mostly academics and students.

Mr Abhisit defended the 2006 coup as necessary to end the abuse of power by Thaksin Shinawatra's government and said it did not interfere with politics after the People Power party, backed by the convicted former prime minister, won the general elections a year later.

He said political reform, culminating in the 1997 constitution, had been damaged by corrupt politicians who also undermined the rule of law. The speech at the world-renowned university wrapped up Mr Abhisit's visit to London ahead of the G20 summit scheduled for April 2. The prime minister will represent Asean at the summit. Thailand is the current chair of the 10-nation grouping.

In a joint statement with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown released yesterday, the Thai and British governments made it clear that they wanted to see a stand against protectionism coming out of the summit.

They also expect a call for multilateral efforts to stimulate economies and to see international financial institutions reformed. The statement was carefully worded when it came to the Burma issue by underlining their "shared interest" in the political situation there.

Thailand and Britain "agreed to work together" to ensure political progress in Burma, it said. They also emphasised "the urgent need for the Myanmar authorities to cooperate fully with the Good Offices Mission of the UN secretary-general, for political prisoners to be released, and for a fully inclusive transition to democracy".

On Friday, Mr Abhisit tried to please British investors by telling them Thailand would continue with free and fair trade.

The government will not amend the Foreign Business Act to curb foreign competition, will respect the World Trade Organisation's intellectual property agreement despite Thailand's commitment to provide cheap medicines for the public under its compulsory licensing policy and allow the private sector to join megaprojects under the Public Private Partnership formula, he said.