Thai cabinet decides not to lift state of emergency

2009-04-17 07:10:34 GMT2009-04-17 15:10:34 (Beijing Time) Xinhua English

BANGKOK, April 17 (Xinhua) -- The Thai cabinet on Friday decided not to lift a state of emergency in Bangkok as peace was not fully restored, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said.

Abhisit said the government would convene a special joint session of Parliament next week, which was tentatively on Wednesday or Thursday, to debate the country's recent political turmoil, the website of Bangkok Post reported.

The tourism industry was the most affected sector by the recent scattered rioting due to anti-government rallies, hence boosting the tourism industry would be a national agenda, the Prime Minister said.

Since Sunday afternoon, April 12, the Thai government has declared the state of emergency in capital Bangkok and some districts of five nearby provinces, citing the escalating violence due to the anti-government rallies.

Prior to the state of emergency's declaration, on Saturday the anti-government protestors stormed into the venue of the then-ongoing ASEAN summit at beach resort Pattaya and related summits, resulting in the cancellation of all of the summits.

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