Thai premier forced out

Bangkok

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra agreed to resign this week, even though he emerged victorious from parliamentary elections. Opposition parties, which boycotted the vote after polls predicted an easy victory for Thaksin, had been holding huge protests in Bangkok every day for weeks, insisting that he step down over corruption charges. They are angry that Thaksin pocketed nearly $2 billion tax-free from the sale of his family’s majority stake in the national telecom company. “Tell me, if or when I step aside, are all of you going to stop and return to what you normally do?” Thaksin asked. The opposition promised it would, and Thaksin said he would remain in office only until his party picked a new premier.

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