Thailand's Caretaker PM performs duties outside Bangkok

BANGKOK, April 3 (TNA) - Caretaker Prime Minister and Defence Minister Yingluck Shinawatra was performing her duties in Bangkok's adjacent Suphan Buri Province on Thursday, inspecting progress of local agricultural zoning and the water situation in the central region. Yingluck, who is on a wheelchair due to her left-leg injury, first arrived at Bueng Chawak Aquarium, one of famous tourist destinations in the province's Doem Bang Nang Buat District, on Thursday morning amidst tight security, as both pro-government red-shirt and anti-government People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) demonstrators were present, but there was no violent confrontation between the two groups. Later in the afternoon, Yingluck visited the Agricultural Promotion and Development Centre in Uthong District to look into progress of local agricultural zoning and the water situation in the central region. Yingluck, meanwhile, asked the Constitutional Court to rule fairly on her status in relation to her transfer of Thawil Pliensri from the position of the National Security Council (NSC) secretary-general, after the Constitutional Court recently accepted for consideration a complaint against her transfer of Thawil. Yingluck insisted that Thawil's transfer was done by the book, expressing her hope that the court adheres to the laws and the single standard. The Supreme Administrative Court earlier ruled that the transfer of Thawil was unlawful. The caretaker prime minister admitted she was worried that the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) cut her additional witnesses, from 11 to three, and limited time for the preparation of her defense in its investigation into her roles in the government's alleged corruption-plagued rice-pledging scheme, stressing on her innocence. In response to a proposal from a veteran politician, Sanoh Thienthong, for her to take a break from politics, the caretaker prime minister called on all parties to support elections, while she is seeking public opinions whether she should remain in politics. (TNA)