AS THE operation to restore order to central Bangkok continued, prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva called for national reconciliation to heal divisions that have brought chaos to the capital.
Mr Abhisit looked assured and confident yesterday as he made his televised national address. But his speech was emotional, not a trait normally associated with the donnish leader. He delivered his address in Thai, then in English; a sign of how important world opinion is here.
“We can certainly repair damaged infrastructure and buildings, but the important thing is to heal the emotional wounds and restore unity among the Thai people,” said the Eton- and Oxford-educated leader.
He emphasised that order had been restored in Bangkok, where soldiers this week pushed Red Shirt protesters out of their encampment after a week of street fighting. The crackdown marked the end of two months of violence in which 83 died and more than 1,800 were injured.
“Fellow citizens, we all live in the same house . . . We have to help each other to rebuild our house,” said Mr Abhisit. “Now it is time for everyone to enter the rehabilitation process.”
He promised an independent investigation into all the events which characterised the two months of anti-government protests. He said the healing process would begin through a five-point reconciliation plan that he had announced earlier.
However, he did not mention an election date, which was one of the key demands the red-shirted protesters had been looking for.
A sense of normality returned to Bangkok yesterday, although there were still troops manning roadblocks and searching vehicles. They recovered some weapons, including M67 grenades and other explosives. For the most part, the vast majority of Red Shirts were unarmed.
However, the streets were clogged with traffic jams by early evening, and there have been precious few traffic jams for the last few days. There is still a curfew operating and the streets were empty from 9pm. The curfew will be lifted on Sunday.
The Red Shirts boarded buses for their home cities yesterday, many of them in the north and northeast, where support for exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra is strong.
The Red Shirts held that Mr Abhisit has no political legitimacy and is a puppet for the army because he was brought in on the back of a military coup.
Mr Abhisit earlier said elections might be held on November 14th. But minister for finance Korn Chatikavanij said this offer had been put on ice until the security situation has stabilised.