Prime Minister HE Mr. Abhisit Vejjajiva, Prime Minister of Thailand, issued the following statement regarding the political developments in his country:

Ladies and Gentleman,

We have restored order in the capital of Bangkok and the provinces of Thailand. We have been able to do this with the cooperation of government officials, volunteers, and, of course, the people of Thailand. We will continue to move swiftly to restore normalcy, and we recognize that as we move ahead, there are huge challenges ahead of us, particularly the challenge of overcoming the divisions that have occurred in this country.

Let me assure you that the government will meet those challenges and overcome these difficulties through the five-point reconciliation plan that I have previously announced. That plan is based on the principles of participation, democracy, and justice. We will allow the due process of law to operate and use our parliamentary democracy to resolve the problems with the participation of all groups of people. At the same time, that plan will include an independent investigation of all the events that have taken place during the protests, so you can be assured that this government has every intention to move the country forward, restore order, and make sure that our recovery is well on track and that we will do so in a transparent manner.