BANGKOK - THAILAND'S newly elected Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said on Wednesday he was sorry for the damage done to the country by the week-long occupation of Bangkok's two airports.
Thousands of protesters trying to oust the previous elected government sealed off the capital's international and domestic airports late last month, stranding up to 350,000 passengers and causing massive economic damage.
One of the leaders of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) protest group is a lawmaker with Mr Abhisit's Democrat Party, which was until Monday the main opposition party in the kingdom.
'We regret the incident and will not allow it to happen again,' Mr Abhisit told Thai tourism industry representatives on Wednesday, two days after parliament elected him Thailand's 27th prime minister.
'I am fully aware that the tourism sector was hit hard and it had an unreasonable loss of revenue, therefore I will create national unity and national reconciliation,' he added.
Tourism accounts for six per cent of gross domestic product in Thailand and industry experts have warned that tourist numbers could fall by half next year after the damaging airport closures.
Hotel occupancy has already plummeted after tourists cancelled Thai trips, scared off by television images of trapped travellers sleeping on baggage trolleys and PAD guards with wooden stakes stationed at the airports.
The PAD launched their protest campaign in late May, accusing the People Power Party-led government elected last December of running the country on behalf of ousted and exiled prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Mr Abhisit was seen as giving his tacit support to the group when he showed up at the funeral of a PAD supporter killed during clashes with police outside parliament on Oct 7. He also visited injured PAD protesters.
During the airport closures Mr Abhisit stayed silent and did not condemn the PAD action, and on Wednesday he defended the military, who refused to support the last government and disperse the protesters.
Mr Abhisit said the army had been put in a 'difficult position' but did not elaborate.
The PAD only ended the airport occupations when a court on Dec 2 dissolved the PPP, forcing then-premier Somchai Wongsawat from office and creating the opening for the Democrat Party to fill the void. -- AFP