Nearly 100,000 local administration officials and members of their families took part in a candlelight ceremony at Wat Dhammakaya in Pathum Thani last night to honor His Majesty the King and the Royal Family.

PM accuses urban people of failing to grasp democracy

By David Ogan

19 July 2006

Despite calling for national reconciliation, caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra last night criticized the urban-based middle class for failing to comprehend democracy and reiterated calls for all sides to respect the rules of politics.

Thaksin also told nearly 100,000 local administration officials and their family members that rural Thailand would become the cradle of democracy and lead the way in bringing about harmony in the country.

Summoned by the Interior Ministry, Local Administration Organization staff from all 76 provinces began arriving at Wat Dhammakaya in Pathum Thani just north of the capital on Monday to take part in the assembly yesterday that the caretaker government said was being held to unify all faiths and to pledge allegiance to His Majesty the King.

The officials and their relatives, all wearing commemorative yellow shirts to mark the 60th anniversary of His Majestys accession to the throne, took part in various merit-making activities and listened to sermons by leaders of the countrys three main faiths Buddhism, Christianity and Islam.

I have never seen such a large assembly of people since I became prime minister six years ago, Thaksin said in his address to the crowd last night.

We are all here today because His Majesty is at the center of our hearts.

After thanking religious leaders for their sermons, Thaksin spoke of divisions between the rural and urban populations. The prime minister accused city dwellers of failing to understand what democracy stood for, while applauding those who live in the countryside for respecting the rules of politics.

People in the city see rural folk as stupid and uneducated, but there are fewer defaulters taking advantage of the village fund than there are defaulters in the city who have taken out bank loans,? he said. ?This clearly proves that rural people know more about democracy and how to play by the rules than people in the city.

Thaksin expressed optimism about the coming general election, and said it would give the public a chance to be heard.

People know politicians well and on election day the peoples mandate will be heard, he said. If courts, politicians and legal minds in the country behave more maturely, the country will see progress.

In apparent reference to criticism of the letter he sent to US President George W Bush, in which it was claimed he gave a one-sided account of why the April 2 general election was annulled, Thaksin said he hoped that Thai politics could be more like that in western countries, or in sports.

I want to see politics more like sports because in sports the rules are respected no matter which side wins or loses, he said. It is not good to lose and then shout abuse at your opponents from the sidelines. It is this that has tainted politics in this country.

We must accept that there are rules and know how to lose gracefully and stop everything when the referee blows his whistle. In America or Italy no one complains, even if they lose an election by the smallest of margins.

Thaksin pledged that he would soon get the political situation under control.

However, he said rural Thailand must nurture the seeds of democracy and spread a message of peace.

Thaksin added that he may soon transfer the management of the governments SML fund to the control of local administrators and that children at elementary school in the provinces would soon have computers.

Before bringing the event to a close, Thaksin led the crowd in a candlelight ceremony to honor HM the King and the Royal Family.

Thai Day

Thaksin accused city/urban dwellers of failing to grasp what democracy stands for ......................and so they got rid of him.....Amen