Democrats fight back

PHUKET TOWN: Confident Democrat Party leaders said yesterday that they would hold their three seats in Phuket at the next election and could even topple the Thai Rak Thai (TRT) party. About 1,000 people attended the Phuket Merlin Hotel yesterday to hear Abisit Vejjajiva, Deputy Leader of the Democrats, and Chamni Sakdiseth, the party’s Deputy Secretary. K. Chamni said that the Democrat opposition was not inclined to make the kinds of promises that had been made by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on his visit to Phuket for a TRT congress last month. “If it is true that Phuket will be given 100 billion baht for development, then I salute the Prime Minister. But bearing in mind the budget of the whole country, if Phuket is given 100 billion baht, with so many provinces in Thailand, how will they all manage?” he asked. K. Abisit told the meeting that there were dangers in a central government using the power of government and capital to dominate. Democracy and human rights were suffering and much that the government did was superficial, leaving unsolved problems for the next generation, he said. “I believe that people are intelligent enough to see who is doing the real work and who is slipshod,” K. Abisit added.