PM asks US to understand Thailand's situation

BANGKOK, January 28 (TNA) - Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-ocha has asked the United States to consider and understand Thailand's political context, stressing that different democratic views do not negatively affect long-time bilateral relations between Bangkok and Washington. Prime Minister General Prayut told journalists on Wednesday that he felt sorry if US Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Russel did not understand Thailand's situation and based his stance on the impeachment of former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra on one-sided stories although his government had tried to explain. The prime minister denied there were attempts to persecute people of any particular family, insisting that the National Legislative Assembly (NLA)'s vote last Friday to impeach Yingluck was in accordance with parliamentary duties by the book without his intervention and the Thai justice system is functioning. The prime minister stated that the army-led National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) will summon for attitudinal discussions former foreign minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul and others whose political comments have threatened the state and incited disorder, cautioning if they continued with their movements, NCPO would prohibit them from leaving the country and check the traces of their money. According to the prime minister, NCPO has had no plan to summon Yingluck because the council, also headed by him, still honors her as a former prime minister, but it supervises Yingluck's plans to travel to overseas destinations, if any, by giving the green light only after the Supreme Court's approval. (TNA)