Thailand's new prime minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, pledged today to heal the country's deep political divisions and revive an economy teetering on the brink of recession.
Speaking in Thai and English on national television, the Oxford-educated economist also reached out to foreign tourists and investors who had been scared off by the latest unrest in Thailand's three-year political crisis.
"It is my every intention to restore the image of Thailand that friends all over the world used to know," Mr Abhisit (44) said after he was endorsed by the king as Thailand's 27th prime minister.
He said the Thai people regretted the recent week-long blockade of Bangkok's main airports, which left 300,000 travellers stranded and badly damaged a key sector of an economy already reeling from slowing exports due to the global downturn.
Some officials and analysts have said the travel chaos put a million jobs at risk, at a time when the impact of the global slowdown is forcing layoffs in export industries.
"We will make sure these are things of the past. They will never happen again and we welcome all of you as tourists, investors and partners," he said.
Mr Abhisit, who won a narrow parliamentary vote for prime minister on Monday after a court forced out his predecessor, said earlier his government would announce a new economic stimulus package next month. He gave no details of the plan.
In a sign of the challenges ahead, Mr Abhisit's election was greeted by angry protests outside parliament, where red-shirted supporters of the previous government smashed car windows and briefly blocked gates to the compound.
Analysts doubt the Democrat-led coalition will make much headway in solving the fundamental rifts in Thai society between the Bangkok elite and the countryside, where voters remain loyal to former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup and lives in exile.
With a small majority in parliament -- which may become even smaller after by-elections in January -- analysts say he will struggle to hold his coalition together and stop the budget deficit getting out of control while pushing through policies to tackle the slowdown.
In his televised address, Abhisit said he would reach out to all Thais and promised a "grand plan of reconciliation", but gave no details.
Reuters