Addressing the nation three weeks after a military crackdown on protesters, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva presented what he called a “letter to the Thai people” on June 10, calling for reconciliation in a country shaken and divided by months of turmoil and scores of deaths, reports The New York Times. The plan, as he described it earlier, seeks to address social and economic disparities that are at the root of Thailand’s divisions. It also seeks to control the news media, which the government asserts instigated much of the recent turmoil. It will discuss constitutional reform, uphold the honor of the monarchy, and investigate the violence that killed at least 88, he said. It is a plan that was originally meant to pave the way for an early election in November, part of the prime minister’s final offer before moving in with force to disperse antigovernment demonstrators who had paralyzed the commercial center of Bangkok.
