Thailand's Interior Minister to inspect drought in NE

BANGKOK, November 16 (TNA) – Thailand’s Interior Minister General Anupong Paochinda is scheduled to inspect a possible drought situation in northeastern Khon Kaen province this Wednesday, as authorities race to map out plans to cope with a lack of rainfall expected to occur next summer. Asked whether he was worried about public opposition against the junta as majority of the northeasterners had taken side with the previous elected government, which was toppled in the May 22 bloodless coup, Gen. Anupong said every Thai citizen needed to realise that the public could have varying viewpoints, but they should not lead to severe conflict. Gen. Anupong said development in every area must be achieved from peace with people living in harmony, adding that he was not worried as people understood well that conflict would bring about missing an opportunity and pose an obstacle for development. He went on to say that the caretaker government would also introduce policies to reduce accidents in the country to below 10 persons against 100,000 people, saying the Road Safety Centre would be the key government agency in preventing and reducing road accidents on a regular basis. Gen. Anupong added that motorists should be more careful and try to reduce accidents while they must realise that “more than 14,000 road accidents take place annually.” (TNA)