Early Thai poll mooted

After deadly clashes:

THAILAND: Thailand’s government could propose early elections to defuse a month-long political crisis, a newspaper reported on Monday, although opposition “red shirts” say the time for talks is over after clashes killed 21 people. With chances of further violence, all eyes are on the stock market, one of Asia’s most buoyant this year, which traders say is likely to take a hit on Monday.

The Bangkok Post daily, citing unnamed sources, said Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva could dissolve parliament in six months — three months sooner than his most recent proposal. Some government figures saw this as the best way to break the impasse, it said. He has to call an election by the end of 2011.

“They believe an announcement by the prime minister on a timeline for him to dissolve parliament — regardless of how the red shirt United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship reacts — might be the best way for him to hang on to his job,” it said.

He would not announce this until after the Songkran holiday this week, it said, without explaining why. Songkran, the Thai New Year, runs from Tuesday to Thursday, but the government also made Friday, April 16, a holiday long before the protests began.

A government spokesman said on Sunday a line of communication with the red shirts was open but conditions were not right for formal talks. The government announced a state of emergency on April 7 forbidding public gatherings of more than five people.

Bangkok, Monday, Reuters