Referendum won't work: senior Thai politician

Updated September 5, 2008 11:01:06

Tens of thousands of protestors in Bangkok are calling for the Samak government to resign. [Thai TV]

A senior Thai MP says a referendum proposed by the troubled prime minister, Samak Sundaravej, will not appease anti-government protestors.

Former chair of the Thai Senate's Foreign Affairs Committee, Kraisak Choonahavan, told Radio Australia what is needed is a change in government.

"If the Samak government is willing to dissolve parliament and allow new elections there would be no need for a referendum," he said.

"They had a referendum in the past in which the majority of the people voted for a constitution which had very strict control over the political parties, very high standards against any abuses of power, and yet it did not solve the very problem the people wanted.

"We have a government which is still quite stubborn, we have a government in which four ministers had to resign in the first four months including the speaker of the house for fraudulent activities and now the latest victim is the foreign minister," he said.

Mr Kraisak says he agrees the demonstrations, lead by the People's Alliance for Democracy protest group calling for the resignation of an elected government, are undemocratic.

"Yes, that is the notion but under any standard, a majority in the government does not necessarily mean that you can abuse your power, and that's what he's been doing," he said.

"I think there is certain personalities that have to yield, really, and that very one is the prime minister.

"If you live here and you understand Thai, you spoke Thai, you would be surprised how antagonistic, how abrasive and sometimes illogical our prime minister is."

He says the protests, while security forces stand by, will escalate.

"Nearly 8,000 policeman... could not remove nearly 20,000 people who occupied government house and much less several thousand more outside and people keep pouring in... labour unions, 49 of them, declared solidarity.

"The declaration of emergency in fact is an announcement by the government for the miiltary to move in and remove the protestors - the military refuses."